ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: A self-expandable nitinol stent (WingSpan stent; Boston Scientific Corp.) was introduced for the treatment of intracranial stenoses. The purpose of this study is to present our initial experience with the WingSpan stent for the treatment of atherosclerotic stenoses of the cerebral arteries. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Consecutive 37 patients (mean age: 66.8 years, 17 men and 20 women) with symptomatic severe stenoses (>50%) of various anatomic sites were treated with WingSpan stent (BSC). Treatment result was evaluated in terms of technical success rate, intra-procedural event, and clinical course. Neurological morbidity and mortality rates were obtained. Arterial patency was evaluated with the 6 month follow-up angiography. Restenosis over 50% was regarded as significant. RESULTS: The technical success rate was 97.3% (36/37). Flow-limiting vasospasm or dissection after balloon angioplasty (n=3), misplacement of the stent (n=3), and acute in-stent thrombosis (n=1) were occurred. The initial stenosis before the procedure (71.7%) was improved after balloon angioplasty (39.8%) and after subsequent stent placement (20.0%). There were four neurological events during periprocedural period. Those were two TIA, one minor stroke, and one major stroke. The periprocedural morbidity rate was 5.4%. One mortality was the case of progression of previous brainstem infarction. Six-month-follow-up angiography was available in 16 patients and in-stent restenosis was noted in 7 (43.8%). CONCLUSION: WingSpan stents could be delivered to the target lesions without difficulty. However, the system showed technical problems such as misplacement. Restenosis seemed not infrequent on our limited follow-up observations.