Stenosis in the aorta caused by non-specific aortitis: Results of treatment by percutaneous stent placement

Aim: To evaluate the short-term results of percutaneous stent placement in treating stenosis in the aorta caused by non-specific aortitis (Takayasu's disease). Method: Five patients were treated by this method, all of whom had uncontrolled hypertension, haemodynamically significant stenosis in the aorta and a clinically inactive disease. Stents were placed to treat an obstructing dissection in four and recurrent stenosis in one patient. All procedures were carried out via the percutaenous transfemoral route, utilizing self-expanding stents. Results: The lesion was located in the thoracic aorta in three patients and in the abdominal aorta in two patients. The stenosis decreased from 81±2 to 7±3%, the pressure gradient fell from 97±5 to 9±2 mmHg, the blood pressure improved from 200±3/124±2 to 131±2/81±2mmHg, and the drug requirement fell from 4±.2 to 1.3±.3 ( P value for all