Feasibility and methodology of optical coherence tomography imaging of human intracranial aneurysms: ex vivo pilot study

Rupture of intracranial aneurysm is a common cause of subarachnoid hemorrhage. An aneurysm may undergo microscopic morphological changes or remodeling of the vessel wall prior to rupture, which could potentially be imaged. In this study we present methods of tissue sample preparation of intracranial aneurysms and correlation between optical coherence tomography imaging and routine histology. OCT has a potential future in the assessment of microscopic features of aneurysms, which may correlate to the risk of rupture.