Intracranial Atheromatosis Disease (ICAD) and Stent Supported Angioplasty

Objectives: Symptomatic intracranial atheromatous disease has an unfavorable prognosis. The endovascular treatment with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) stent assisted must be held in accordance with the efficacy, safety, complications and the risk of restenosis in the long term. Materials and methods: A study conducted between 1996 and 2008, includes 28 patients with 30 cases of stenosis located in the internal carotid artery (11), basilar artery (14) and vertebral artery (5). All cases were symptomatic even under anticoagulation treatment and the stenosis grade > 60% (average 83.5%). Results: There was a significant reduction in the degree of stenosis (less than 50%), with an average residual stenosis of 36.8%. There were two complications, with reperfusion bruising (6.6%). In the long term monitoring, we found a single case of restenosis and no patient had a transient or permanent ischemic stroke. Conclusion: The treatment of intracranial stenosis with stentassisted angioplasty is effective, with a low complication rate and restenosis in this series.