Abstract
Purpose: Our aim was to determine whether CT angiography (CTA) is suitable for the evaluation of patency and in-stent restenoses in small vessel stents for intracranial angioplasty. Methods: From June, 2000 to February, 2006, 26 patients received stent-assisted angioplasty for intracranial atherosclerotic lesions. The procedure was successfully performed in all patients. Multi plannar reconstruction (MPR) was evaluated for image quality on three groups with I-E (Internal-External diameter) ratios, as follows: Group A=I-E ratio>0.5 (Possible to evaluate stent lumen, high certainty), Group B=0.31≦I-E ratio≦0.5 (Possible to evaluate stent lumen, low certainty), Group C=I-E ratio≦0.31 (Uninterpretable). We examined the possibility of evaluating the stent lumen, maching the identity with the angiographical findings, and finding a predictor of favorable CTA findings. Result: CTA was performed in 19 patients. It was possible to evaluate the visible stent lumen in 14 patients (73.7%); 10 patients comprised group A, 4 patients group B, 5 patients group C. Nine patients were evaluated with both CTA and angiography after the stenting. CTA findings were identical with angiographical findings in 8 of 9 patients. Stent diameter was associated with CTA findings, all of the patients who received 4.0 mm stents were in group A. Conclusion: The stent lumen may be visualized and evaluated in most stents using CTA, but tend to only be interpretable in the small vessels.
