Stent graft treatment of cerebrovascular wall defects: intermediate-term clinical and angiographic results

Endovascular stent graft (SG) deployment offers a useful vessel-preserving strategy for vascular wall lesions such as pseudoaneurysms and fistulae. Although deployment of expanded polytetrafluoro-ethylene-covered SGs within the carotid and vertebral arteries is technically feasible, data on long-term efficacy, safety, and patency rate remain sparse.

Six patients with traumatic (n = 4), iatrogenic (n = 1), or spontaneous (n = 1) internal carotid and vertebral artery injuries (direct carotid-cavernous fistula, n = 2; pseudoaneurysms, n = 4) were treated with nine balloon-mounted coronary expanded polytetrafluoro-ethylene SGs. Angiographic (mean, 2.3 yr; range, 1.7-4.2 yr) and neurological follow-up (mean, 2.7 yr) was performed for all patients.

Complete angiographic exclusion of the lesion was achieved by the initial procedure in five of the six patients; one ruptured cavernous carotid aneurysm leading to a direct carotid-cavernous fistula showed persistent slow shunting despite tandem deployment of two SGs. All six patients revealed complete and persistent angiographic obliteration at delayed follow-up, with minimal in-stent stenosis (<20%) seen in two instances. Difficulty with SG navigation was encountered in five patients, resulting in one instance of guide catheter-induced intimal dissection. Type I endoleak was observed in five patients, requiring secondary angioplasty in four patients and deployment of an additional tandem SG in three.

Technical challenges in current-generation SG deployment include sizing, navigation, positioning, and propensity for endoleak. When managed successfully, stent grafting provides a valuable approach for the treatment of vascular wall defects for which vessel preservation is preferred. Intermediate-term safety is satisfactory, with no delayed complications and minimal in-stent stenosis in follow-up periods of more than 2 years.