PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Kessler, Iruena Moraes
AU  - Mounayer, Charbel
AU  - Piotin, Michel
AU  - Spelle, Laurent
AU  - Vanzin, Jose Ricardo
AU  - Moret, Jacques
TI  - The Use of Balloon-Expandable Stents in the Management of Intracranial Arterial Diseases: A 5-Year Single-Center Experience
DP  - 2005 Oct 01
TA  - American Journal of Neuroradiology
PG  - 2342--2348
VI  - 26
IP  - 9
4099  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/26/9/2342.short
4100  - http://www.ajnr.org/content/26/9/2342.full
SO  - Am. J. Neuroradiol.2005 Oct 01; 26
AB  - BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Although stent-assisted intracranial procedures are becoming a routine clinical practice, there have been relatively few large studies published in the literature regarding the application of the balloon-expandable stent technology in the treatment of intracranial arterial diseases. In this report, the authors reviewed their experience with 75 cases at a single center.METHODS: From 1998 to 2003, 75 patients underwent percutaneous transluminal intracranial stent placement as a treatment for wide-necked intracranial aneurysms and atherosclerotic stenoses. The anatomy of the target lesions, technical details of the procedures, device functionality, procedure-related complications, and short-term outcomes were reviewed in a retrospective fashion.RESULTS: The clinical indications included wide-necked intracranial aneurysms (59) and atherosclerotic stenoses (16). The stent was successfully deployed in 92% of the patients (69 of 75 cases). In the remaining 6 cases, the causes of failed stent deployment included arterial tortuosities (2), stent migration (2), fracture of the stent (1), and arterial perforation (1). The short-term outcome (mean follow-up, 7.5 months; range, 3–12 months) was evaluated by using the modified Rankin scale (MR spectroscopy 0–6). Fifty-three patients (70.6%) had excellent outcomes (MR spectroscopy 0–1), 12 (16%) had good outcomes (MR spectroscopy 2), and 5 (6.7%) had poor outcomes (MR spectroscopy 4–5). Five patients (6.7%) died.CONCLUSION: The use of BES is associated with a high rate of hemorrhagic and ischemic complications, more specifically when used in the anterior circulation. Cases of large-necked aneurysms not treatable with balloon remodeling technique and atheromatous sclerosis could be eligible for this treatment.