The modified Bose method for the endovascular treatment of intracranial atherosclerotic arterial stenoses using the Enterprise stent.

Background: Balloon dilatation and deployment of a self-expanding stent is a safe treatment for intracranial atherosclerotic stenoses. The significant recurrence rate might be related to the high radial force of the Wingspan stent.

Objective: To evaluate the procedural safety and stenosis recurrence rate by the use of a stent with reduced radial force (Enterprise).

Functional polymorphisms in matrix metalloproteinases -1, -3, -9 and -12 in relation to cervical artery dissection.

Background: Cervical artery dissection is a leading cause of cerebral ischemia in young adults. Morphological investigations have shown alterations in the extracellular matrix (ECM) of affected vessel walls. As matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) play a central role in the regulation of the ECM, an increased expression of these enzymes might lead to the endothelial damage in spontaneous cervical artery dissection (sCAD).