Symptomatic stenosis of the vertebrobasilar arteries: results of extra- and intracranial stent-PTA

Background and purpose: About half of all transient ischaemic attacks (TIAs) or strokes in the posterior circulation are caused by the arterial stenosis. The purposes of this study were to determine the safety of stent‐assisted percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (stent‐PTA) and its efficacy for the prevention of recurrent stroke in patients with symptomatic artery stenosis in the extra‐ and intracranial posterior circulation. Methods: Forty‐six patients with a previous stroke or TIA who received balloon‐mounted coronary stents for vertebral artery origin stenosis (VAOS; 29 patients) or self‐expanding nitinol stents for vertebrobasilar intracranial stenosis (VBIS; 17 patients) were followed‐up for a mean of 24.1 (VAOS) and 12.7 (VBIS) months. Results: When all cause morbidity/mortality within 30 days from stent‐PTA and stroke or death from stroke in the treated vascular territory during the first 12 months of follow‐up are combined, the incidence of periprocedural complications and disease progression for the first year is 10.3% in VAOS patients and 17.6% in the VBIS group. Vessel restenosis ≥50% was found in 52.0% of VAOS and in 32.1% of VBIS patients who completed 6 months follow‐up. Conclusions: We observed a higher periprocedural complication rate for patients with VBIS and a higher rate of restenosis in VAOS patients after stent‐PTA for symptomatic artery stenosis.