As with the treatment of most medical conditions, the treatment of aneurysms tends to have the best outcomes in hospitals which treat higher volumes of patients with the condition. Both clipping and coiling have hospital-sensitive success rates. Thus, it is important to seek a hospital which handles higher volumes of aneurysm patients. This often includes large regional hospitals or teaching hospitals. It is also important to seek out hospitals which number among their physicians both neurosurgeons who are experienced in clipping and inverventional radiologists or neuroradiologists who are experienced in coiling. It is wise to ask the hospital how the volume of aneurysm patients it treats annually compares to the volume at other hospitals.

Doctors

Coil embolism is a relatively new procedure, pioneered in the 1990s. Up to then, surgical clipping had been the only method of prevention of hemorrhaging and in the U.S., although not in Europe, it is still the standard of care. It is the standard policy of many medical centers to refer an aneurysm patient only to a neurosurgeon for a surgical clipping procedure. We recommend that, in addition, you also consult with an interventional radiologist as well, to discuss coil embolism as a treatment option. Both treatment options should be considered, as time and the safety of the patient permit, and depending on the features of the aneurysm, its location and the condition of the patient.

You may consult physician directories and the major medical associations for doctors who specialize in this field. As with hospitals, the more frequently a doctor performs clipping or coiling, the more successful the outcomes tend to be. Ask any doctor you are considering how often he/she performs the procedure.

General physician search
http://health.yahoo.com/health/physicians/
American Association of Neurological Surgeons
www.NeurosurgeryToday.org
Congress of Neurological Surgeons
10 North Martingale Road, Suite 190
Schaumburg, IL 60173
www.neurosurgeon.org
AANS/CNS Section on Cerebrovascular Surgery
5550 Meadowbrook Drive
Rolling Meadows, IL 60008-3852
www.neurosurgery.org
American Society of Interventional & Therapeutic Neuroradiology
10201 Lee Highway, Suite 500
Fairfax, VA 22030
www.asitn.org
Society of Interventional Radiology
www.sirweb.org