Would self-expanding stent occlude middle cerebral artery perforators?

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: A major concern of intracranial stenting is perforator infarction. It is unclear whether the sustained radial force of a self-expanding stent or subsequent stent restenosis would cause late occlusion of perforators.

METHODS

We compared the baseline and poststent (>or=4 months) MRI scans of patients who underwent self-expanding stenting for recurrent ischemic symptoms attributed to a MCA stenosis >or=60%. New infarcts in the ipsilateral striatocapsular region were recorded.

RESULTS

MCA stenting was technically successful in 23 of 24 recruited patients. No new perforator territory infarct was found in follow-up MRI scans of all recruited patients. Postoperatively, all patients reported no further TIA or stroke over a median follow-up of 15 months.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of a self-expanding stent in patients with high-grade MCA stenosis may not pose a major risk to the perforators.