European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

EVALUATION OF ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION LEVELS IN PATIENTS FOLLOWING ENDOVASCULAR TREATMENT OF UNRUPTURED INTRACRANIAL ANEURYSMS WITH FLOW DIVERTER

Christina Sotnikova RN, MSc, Stylianos Pikis MD, MSc, Georgia Fasoi, Afroditi Zartaloudi, Panagiota Lalou, Martha Kelesi and Georgios Mantziaris*MD

ABSTRACT

Object: The diagnosis of unruptured intracranial aneurysm and the anxiety caused by the knowledge of potential complications of endovascular treatments may negatively affect the mental health of the patients. We sought to investigate the prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and depression in a cohort of consecutive patients six months after flow diversion treatment for an unruptured intracranial aneurysms. Methods: This study included consecutive patients treated with flow diverter for an unruptured intracranial aneurysm and for whom a six-month angiographic and clinical follow-up was available, as well as a control group of healthy subjects. The participants were assessed for symptoms of anxiety and depression using a patient-filled questionnaire based on the Greek version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Results: A total of 61 consecutive patients managed with flow diversion for unruptured intracranial aneurysms and 63 healthy subjects serving as the control group were included in the study. Higher mean anxiety and mean depression score in the patient group were observed compared to the control group (p=0.039 and p=0.049 respectively). Higher anxiety scales were positively correlated with female gender (p=0.003) and employment status (p=0.005). Increasing age (p=0.05), female gender (p=0.05) and employment status (p=0.04) were statistically significant risk factors for the emergence of symptoms of depression and higher education level was negatively correlated with higher depression scales (p=0.002). Conclusion: The diagnosis of unruptured intracranial aneurysms and knowledge of the complications of endovascular management with flow diverters may be associated with increased prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and depression. Further, well designed studies are necessary to evaluate the prevalence of mental disorders in patients undergoing endovascular treatment for unruptured intracranial aneurysms.

Keywords: anxiety, depression, unruptured intracranial aneurysms, endovascular treatment, flow diverter.