AUTHOR=Zhou Kai , Cao Yuan , He Xiao-Hui , Qiu Zhong-Ming , Liu Shuai , Gong Zi-Li , Shuai Jie , Yang Qing-Wu 

TITLE=A Comparison of Safety and Effectiveness Between Wingspan and Neuroform Stents in Patients With Middle Cerebral Artery Stenosis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=12

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2021.527541

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2021.527541

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Background:</bold> Percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting with the Wingspan stent has proven safe and effective in patients with middle cerebral artery stenosis (MCAS), but the off-label use of the Neuroform stent might be an alternative treatment. This study aimed to compare the safety and effectiveness of the above two intracranial stents in patients with MCAS.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> We retrospectively analyzed consecutive patients with symptomatic MCAS who had been treated with the Neuroform EZ or the Wingspan stent. A propensity score was generated to control for differences in baseline characteristics. The endpoints were the rate of peri-procedural complications within 30 days after stenting, the in-stent restenosis rate, and any target-vessel-related stroke or deaths during follow-up.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> After matching for propensity score, the peri-procedural complication rate in the Wingspan group was 7.4% compared with 5.6% in the Neuroform group (<italic>p</italic> = 1.00), while the follow-up in-stent restenosis rates were 23.3 vs. 14.3%, respectively (<italic>p</italic> = 0.41). In the restenosis group, the patients tended to be younger (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01) and the degree of artery stenosis before stenting was higher (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01).</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> This study indicated that in patients with symptomatic MCAS, Neuroform EZ stents are an alternative to Wingspan. Moreover, younger age and higher degree of artery stenosis before stenting might be a risk factor of in-stent restenosis.</p>