Percutaneous recanalization of iliac artery occlusions with the Strecker stent

Within a 3-year period a total of 16 iliac artery occlusions in 16 patients were treated with percutaneous angioplasty and stenting with the Strecker stent without adjunctive thrombolytic therapy. The length of the occlusions varied from 0.5 to 8 cm (mean 4.1 cm). The average stent diameter was 7.6 mm and the average length was 6.1 cm. Reocclusion occurred in 3 patients (two after one month and one after 11 months). One case of dissection and two cases of distal embolization to the external iliac artery were diagnosed during the procedure by an angiogram and were successfully treated by stenting. Two cases of small groin hematoma were treated conservatively.