Balloon dilation and stent implant through the side of a previously placed intravascular stent: a new option for the interventionalist.

Intravascular stent placement for relief of vascular stenoses often requires that a stent be positioned across the origin of side-branch vessels. Most currently available peripheral vascular stents have a closed-cell design that will not allow catheter manipulation, dilation, or stenting through the stent cells. Therefore, if a side branch arising off a previously stented vessel is stenotic or if its origin has been compromised, transcatheter dilation of the branch vessel has not been possible. We report a series of successful balloon dilation and stent placement through the sides (cells) of previously placed IntraStent DoubleStrut LD stents in the aortic arch and abdominal aorta of pigs.