Wingspan stenting can effectively prevent long-term strokes for patients with severe symptomatic atherosclerotic basilar stenosis

Objective To investigate the safety and long-term effect of using the Wingspan stent for severe symptomatic atherosclerotic basilar artery stenosis (70%). Materials and methods Between July 2007 and April 2013, we had 91 consecutive patients (age range 41-82 years old) with symptomatic severe basilar stenosis (70-99%) who underwent Wingspan stenting at our center. All patients had stenosis-related temporary ischemic attack or strokes. We analyzed the demographic data, pre- and post-procedural cerebral angiography, technical success rate, peri-procedural complications, and clinical and imaging follow-ups. Results The Wingspan stenting procedure was successful in all patients: The stenosis was reduced from 82.2%5.8% pre-stenting to 15.9%+/- 5.7% post-stenting. The 30-day peri-operative rate for stroke or death was 14.3%, which included ischemic stroke in 12 cases (12/91=13.2%) and subarachnoid hemorrhage in one case (1/91=1.1%), with a fatal or disabling stroke rate of 2.2%. Among the 77 patients with clinical follow-up assessment within 7-60 months (mean 31.3 +/- 15.1 months) after stenting, four patients (5.2%) had posterior ischemia, including one patient with disabling ischemic stroke (1.3%) and three patients (3.9%) with temporary ischemic attack. The 2-year cumulative stroke rate was 16% (95% CI: 8.2-23.8%). Among 46 patients with imaging assessments at 3-45 months (mean, 9.5 +/- 8.3) post-stenting, six (13.0%) patients had restenosis, including two (2/46=4.3%) with symptomatic restenosis. Conclusions The benefit of stenting for patients with severe basilar artery stenosis (> 70%) may lie in lowering the long-term fatal and disabling stroke rate; and as long as the peri-operative stroke rate can be kept at a relatively lower level, patients with severe basilar stenosis can benefit from basilar artery stenting.