Balloon-expandable stent angioplasty in the treatment of vertebral artery stenosis in the V2 segment.

Vertebral artery stenosis is a major cause of posterior circulation ischemia in the elderly. There is not a clear consensus on the optimal therapeutic approach for symptomatic extracranial vertebral artery stenosis.

To evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of balloon-expandable stent angioplasty in the treatment of vertebral artery stenosis in the V2 segment.

Five patients with vertebral artery stenosis (V2 segment) and treatment of percutaneous transluminal stenting from July 2009 to June 2014 were retrospectively evaluated. All patients underwent color Doppler, transcranial color Doppler (TCD), CT angiography (CTA) and cerebral digital subtraction angiography (DSA) preoperatively. Whether there was osseous oppression was determined according to neck computed tomography (CT) and CTA. After the surgery, angiography was performed to determine if there was infarction or bleeding in the intracranial vertebral artery, basilar artery and posterior cerebral artery. The surgical parameters, residual stenosis, complications, etc. were recorded and evaluated. The patients were followed up accordingly.

Five patients (3 males, 2 females; average age of 66 ±4.2, range of 54-75) were enrolled in the study. Balloon-expandable stents were successfully implanted in the 5 patients. The mean residual stenosis after the balloon-expandable stenting (preoperative: average, 87.0 ±6.6%, range: 75-93%) was 12.6 ±7.8% (range: 5-25%). The clinical symptoms disappeared or receded. No serious complications occurred.

The balloon-expandable stent angioplasty seemed to be feasible and efficacious in treating vertebral artery stenosis in the V2 segment. Further study with a large sample size is needed.