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AbstractBackground:Intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD) is a common cause of stroke with a poor natural history despite medical therapy. Few studies have investigated endovascular therapies for the treatment of symptomatic ICAD in distal intracranial arteries. Here, we present the feasibility and safety of balloon angioplasty with and without stenting in patients with medically refractory small-artery symptomatic ICAD. Methods:Personal logs were reviewed to identify patients who were treated for small-artery ICAD (stenosis >50) using angioplasty and/or stenting. Small cerebral arteries were defined by a diameter of ≤2 mm or any branch distal to a large intracranial vessel (i.e. distal to the internal carotid artery, M1, A1, or vertebrobasilar trunk). Patient characteristics, clinical manifestations, treatment, hospital course, and follow-up data were collected and analyzed. Results:Ten patients (12 arteries) were treated with either primary balloon angioplasty (58.3) or angioplasty with stenting (41.6) with a 100 technical success rate. Mean pretreatment stenosis was 79.9, while mean posttreatment stenosis was 19.0. There were no major periprocedural complications, including symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage or mortality; 3 cases were complicated by groin hematoma. Patients were followed for a mean total of 18.6 months with only 1 symptomatic restenosis which was retreated successfully. All patients had good functional outcome with a modified Rankin Scale of either 0 (80) or 1 (20) on follow-up. Conclusion:In our case series, treatment of symptomatic small-artery ICAD with angioplasty and/or stenting was safe and effective. These interventions should be considered as an alternative treatment for ICAD patients refractory to medical therapy.© 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel