Objective: To assess the safety and efficacy of stent-assisted angioplasty (SAA) for symptomatic intracranial artery stenosis, and to evaluate preliminarily the significance of classification of location, morphology and access (LMA classification) of intracranial artery stenosis in SAA.
Methods: Forty-two patients with symptomatic intracranial artery stenosis (diameter reduction: 50% - 74%, n = 15; >or= 75%, n = 27), located in middle cerebral artery (n = 27), intracranial internal carotid artery (n = 4), intracranial vertebral artery (n = 7) and basilar artery (n = 4) respectively, refractory to medical therapy were enrolled in this study.
Results: LMA classification: 23 of the forty-two lesions (54.8%) located at the site of bifurcation, which were classified according to the location into type A (n = 8), B (n = 11), C (n = 2), D (n = 1) and F (n = 1) respectively. Type A, B and C lesions were 19, 19 and 4 respectively in the light of morphologic classification. Type I, II and III accesses were 15, 23 and 4 respectively in the light of access classification.
Technique: The technical successful rate of SAA was 95.2% (40/42) for the group overall, and 100% (15/15), 94.7% (22/23), and 75% (3/4) for type I, II, III accesses, respectively. The rate of periprocedural complication and death was 9.5% (4/42), including acute occlusion (n = 1) and high perfusion syndrome (n = 3). After emergency measures, 3 patients were cured completely, and the remaining one with severe MCA trunk stenosis of type C lesion died of subarachnoid hemorrhage (2.4%). During a clinical follow-up period ranging from 1 to 18 months (median 8 months), 39 patients receiving SAA have been still free from ischemic events. There was no restenosisfound angiographically 6 months (n = 7) and 12 months (n = 4) after SAA.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that under rigorous control of procedural and periprocedural measures, SAA appears to be a safe and effective therapy for symptomatic intracranial stenoses of type A and B lesions, but it is not risk-free for type C lesions. The LMA classification is helpful for predicting the results of SAA and to design the procedure. However, further study is needed.