Boston Scientific Corporation has today announced that it has received clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market its Guglielmi Detachable Coils (GDC) to treat all brain aneurysms.

The platinum GDC Coils were previously legitimised only for treatment of high-risk or inoperable ruptured and unruptured brain aneurysms.

However, as a result of the expanded ruling, the less-invasive alternative to surgery will be provided for the estimated 17 million people who have a brain aneurysm.

Typically, most brain aneurysm patients in the United States have been treated by neurosurgical clipping, which involves performing a craniotomy (temporarily removing a section of the skull during surgery) and placing a surgical clip at the neck of the aneurysm.

However, following well-documented breakthroughs across the world, surgeons are increasingly performing less-invasive endovascular coil treatment.

Endovascular coil treatment involves insertion of a catheter into the femoral artery in the patient's leg, through which tiny platinum coils are then threaded and deployed into the aneurysm, obstructing blood flow and preventing further damage.

'It is important that patients with brain aneurysms receive an endovascular consultation as part of the treatment protocol,' commented John Connors III, president of the American Society of Interventional and Therapeutic Neuroradiology.

'While the potential patient benefits of endovascular treatment have been proved, unfortunately many ruptured brain aneurysm patients in the United States still do not have access to endovascular treatment.'