Angioplasty and Stenting for Intracranial Atherosclerosis with the Wingspan System: Long-term Clinical and Radiological Outcome

Abstract

Objective: We examined the long-term incidence of in-stent restenosis (ISR) on angiographic follow-up and ipsilateral ischemic events after Wingspan stenting for intracranial arterial stenosis. Methods: Between July 2014 and September 2015, patients who underwent Wingspan treatment at our institution and have been followed for more than 1 year were retrospectively analyzed. Results: In all, 13 lesions of 12 patients (average age, 67.1 years; 9 men) were enrolled. Target lesions involved nine internal carotid, three middle cerebral, and one vertebral artery. Wingspan was successfully placed in all 13 lesions. Pretreatment stenosis was 79.7 ± 9.3% (mean ± SD), which improved to 20.8 ± 9.6% after stent placement (p <0.001). There was one temporary periprocedural neurological complication and no ischemic stroke in follow-up (mean follow-up: 20.4 months). At 3–6 months, aggravation of the stenosis occurred in seven patients; however, all lesions improved 1 year later. As a result, ISR was demonstrated in one patient (8.3%). Conclusion: One-year clinical and angiographic outcomes of Wingspan stenting were promising for intracranial atherosclerotic diseases. Keywords▶ intracranial atherosclerotic disease, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty/angioplasty, Wingspan stent, in-stent restenosis