Seven years of CRAFT: clinical results of a multicenter cohort of carotid artery relining with the CASPER RX stent.

Background And Purpose: Carotid artery stenting (CAS) is an established treatment for carotid stenosis or occlusion. Use of the dual-layer microporous CASPER RX stent has had mixed results in prior reports. The CaRotid Artery Filtering Technique (CRAFT) uses the distal end of the CASPER stent as an embolic protection device during deployment. We present the largest cohort of patients having undergone CAS with the CASPER stent and report our multicentre experience with CRAFT over the last seven years.

Materials And Methods: All patients undergoing CAS at three tertiary neurointerventional centres in Australia from April 2016 to April 2023 were included. Patient demographic, procedural and clinical data were retrospectively collected. All included patients underwent CAS with CASPER stent insertion using CRAFT.

Results: 215 patients (74% male, mean age 70) were included in the study. Most patients (89%) were treated on an emergent basis with 81% of these representing tandem lesions in acute ischaemic stroke. Median NIHSS score was 12 on admission and 6 post-procedure. 98% achieved an mTICI score of 2b or higher. Median mRS score was 1 at the time of earliest outpatient follow-up. 90% of patients received intraprocedural antiplatelet therapy. 10% suffered symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage and 7% had stent occlusion. An 8% all-cause mortality rate was observed.

Conclusion: Emergent CAS with the CASPER RX stent and CRAFT is both safe and efficacious, with low rates of stent occlusion and restenosis as well as a low risk of major complication. Given the limited sample of elective patients in our cohort, further studies are required to corroborate the safety profile of CRAFT in elective CAS.