Urgent recanalization with stenting for severe intracranial atherosclerosis after transient ischemic attack or minor stroke.

Objective: Stenting of symptomatic intracranial stenosis has recently become an alternative treatment modality. However, urgent intracranial stenting in patients with intracranial stenosis following a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or minor stroke is open to dispute. We sought to assess the feasibility, safety, and effectiveness of urgent intracranial stenting for severe stenosis (>70%) in TIA or minor stroke patients.

Methods: Between June 2009 and October 2010, stent-assisted angioplasty by using a balloon-expandable coronary stent for intracranial severe stenosis (>70%) was performed in 7 patients after TIA and 5 patients after minor stroke (14 stenotic lesions). Technical success rates, complications, angiographic findings, and clinical outcomes were retrospectively analyzed.

Results: Stenting was successful in all 12 patients. The mean time from symptom onset to stenting was 2.1 days (1-8 days). Post-procedural angiography showed restoration to a normal luminal diameter in all patients. In-stent thrombosis occurred in one patient (n=1, 8.3%), and was lysed with abciximab. No device-related complications, such as perforations or dissections at the target arteries or intracranial hemorrhaging, occurred in any patient. The mortality rate was 0%. No patient had an ischemic event over the mean follow-up period of 12.5 months (range, 7-21 months), and follow-up angiography (n=7) revealed no significant in-stent restenosis (>50%).

Conclusion: Urgent recanalization with stenting is feasible, safe, and effective in patients with TIA or acute minor stroke with intracranial stenosis of ≥70%.