Multilayer stents, a new progress in the endovascular treatment of aneurysms.

Objective: To review the recent progress of multilayer stents in treating arterial aneurysms and to draw an initial conclusion about its paradigm.

Data Sources: PubMed database and ELSEVIER database were searched with the keywords "cardiatis" or "multilayer stent" for relevant articles from January 2008 to September 2012. Relevant websites (provided by Cardiatis) were also involved in the review process.

Study Selection: Well-controlled, relatively large-scale, retrospective studies as well as meaningful individual cases were all selected as materials.

Results: A total of 23 articles were involved in this review. The newly introduced Cardiatis multilayer stent aims at creating an active flow-modulating barrier between normal blood flow and aneurismal sac, which can induce thrombosis within aneurismal sac and preserve collateral circulation at the same time. Currently, it has been applied for complicated aneurysms located in different segments of the arterial system.

Conclusion: This new concept of multilayer uncovered stent offers a promising alterative in the treatment of arterial aneurysms. However, a further large-scale clinical and hemodynamic study is required to evaluate the long-term effects.