Spasm induced by protection balloon during carotid artery stenting.

Purpose: The PercuSurge system is a distal balloon embolic protection device used for carotid artery stenting (CAS). We performed a retrospective study on the prognosis and clinical effects of spasms induced by the PercuSurge GuardWire system (PercuSurge-induced spasm).

Materials And Methods: We performed CAS in 118 carotid stenoses using the PercuSurge system. Of the 118 procedures, 31 (26.3%) of the patients experienced PercuSurge-induced spasm, and all underwent postoperative follow-up studies by cerebral angiography and antiplatelet treatment.

Results: On follow-up angiograms obtained a mean of 5.2 months (range 3-10 months) after CAS, all 31 PercuSurge-induced spasms had disappeared, and no delayed stenosis was found at the sites where the spasms had occurred. No ischemic events due to the spasms occurred during a mean follow-up of 13 months (range 3-32 months).

Conclusion: In the hands of physicians experienced in endovascular surgery, CAS using the PercuSurge system is a safe method with which to treat patients with carotid stenosis. Our study demonstrated that PercuSurge-induced spasms had no morphological or clinical adverse effects.