A Case of Acute In-Stent Mobile Plaque after Carotid Artery Stenting Aspirated with a Distal Access Catheter

Carotid artery stenting (CAS) is common procedure for carotid stenosis, but sometimes acute in-stent thrombosis or plaque protrusion after CAS leads to postoperative stroke. There are few reports of aspiration of in-stent plaque protrusion. This paper reports a case of acute in-stent mobile plaque aspirated with a distal access catheter.

A 74-year-old male underwent CAS for symptomatic internal carotid artery stenosis and postoperative course was thought to be good, but in-stent mobile plaque was detected by carotid duplex at postoperative day 6. As mobile plaque is a high risk for stroke, we performed plaque aspiration with a distal access catheter, without neurological deficit or a new cerebral lesion in magnetic resonance imaging. We present a case report, including a literature review, of acute thrombosis or in-stent plaque protrusion.

Aspiration removal may be effective for in-stent mobile plaque, which is expected to be fragile, avoiding the disadvantages of increasing stents.