Safety of intracranial venous stenting in patients with nickel allergy

Nickel hypersensitivity is the most common metal related allergy. Nickel containing alloys are frequently used in endovascular devices. The use of intracranial stents in patients with nickel hypersensitivity appears to be safe, but these small series only evaluated arterial stent placement. This case series aimed to assess the safety of intracranial venous stent placement in patients with documented nickel allergy.

In this retrospective multicenter case series, patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension and documented nickel allergy underwent treatment with a permanently implanted nickel containing stent in the dural venous sinuses.

Nine patients with nickel allergy were included. All patients reported clinical improvement in their idiopathic intracranial hypertension symptoms. Of the five patients who had follow-up intracranial venous imaging, all stents remained patent. No patients experienced intraoperative, postoperative, or long term procedure related complications, with follow-up ranging from 1.8 weeks to 49.1 months.

In this limited case series, the use of nickel containing stents in intracranial venous sinuses in patients with nickel allergy did not result in any allergic reaction or adverse outcome.