Stenting for Vertebral Artery Ostial Stenosis

Abstract

Intravascular surgery can be an alternative treatment for vertebral artery ostial(VAO)stenosis. However, percutaneous transluminal angioplasty(PTA)using conventional balloons has sometimes induced wall dissection, elastic recoil restenosis and other complications. Application of intravascular stents may prevent these complications. In this paper, we report our initial experience of stenting for symptomatic VAO stenoses. The mean stenosis rate of those lesions was 81% before stenting and was reduced to 4% after stenting. There were 2 patients with transient neurological complications in the perioperative period. Angiographic follow-up studies more than 3 months after treatment demonstrated restenosis in 3 patients. These cases were successfully treated by PTA. Our initial results demonstrated that stenting is a feasible and safe method of treating stenoses of the vertebral artery ostium.