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Objectives: To investigate whether the imaging changes on high-resolution vessel wall imaging (HR-VWI) in patients before and after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting (PTAS) contribute to predicting the clinical outcome., Methods: The study included 24 severe intracranial artery stenosis (SICAS) patients undergoing PTAS with Wingspan Stent between 2018 and 2020 and had a 1-year follow-up. Three HR-VWI sessions (preprocedural, early [within 24 h], and delayed postprocedural [134.7 ± 27.1 days)]) in each subject were performed with 3-Tesla MRI. We evaluated periprocedural HR-VWI changes in patients with and without recurrent cerebral ischemic symptoms (RCIS) within 1-year follow-up., Results: On CE-T1WI of the patients without RCIS, a significant decrease in enhanced area was observed on early postprocedural (0.04 ± 0.02 cm 2 , p = 0.001) and delayed postprocedural (0.04 ± 0.02 cm 2 ; p = 0.001) HR-VWI compared to preprocedural (0.07 ± 0.02 cm 2 ) HR-VWI. Patients with RCIS demonstrated no significant loss of enhanced area on CE-T1WI of early postprocedural HR-VWI (p = 0.180). Significant decreases in calibrated T1 signals were observed in both presence (1.77 ± 0.70 vs. 0.79 ± 0.52; p = 0.018) and absence (1.42 ± 0.62 vs. 0.83 ± 0.40; p = 0.001) of RCIS in early postprocedural HR-VWI., Conclusion: The preliminary results showed the presence of reduced contrast enhancement immediately after PTAS may indicate less recurrent stroke events within 1 year. Further studies are necessary to confirm the phenomena in a longer observation period., Key Points: • Early postprocedural high-resolution vessel imaging (HR-VWI) within 24 h can effectively predict a 1-year outcome following intracranial stenting. • For stenotic lesions after stenting without reduced contrast enhancement on HR-VWI within 24 h may need closer clinical surveillance for potentially higher risk of stroke events within 1 year., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to European Society of Radiology.)

Background/purpose: The therapeutic efficacy of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting (PTAS) of post-irradiated stenosis of subclavian artery (PISSA) was not well clarified. This retrospective study was designed to evaluate the technical safety and outcome of the patients of severe symptomatic PISSA accepted PTAS., Methods: Between 2000 and 2019, 16 cases with 17 lesions of symptomatic and medically refractory PISSA accepted PTAS were included. We evaluated their technical success, peri-procedural complications and diffusion-weight imaging (DWI) of brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), results of symptom relief, and long-term stent patency., Results: The stenosis of the 17 stenotic lesions were 81.2 ± 11.1%. The most common symptom of the 16 patients was dizziness (14/16, 87.5%). All successfully accepted PTAS without neurological complication and had symptom relief after PTAS (17/17, 100%). Of the 12 patients accepted pre-procedural and early post-procedural MRI follow-up, 2 patients had an asymptomatic tiny acute embolic infarct in the territory of vertebrobasilar system. In a 51.9 ± 54.9 months follow-up, all patients had no severe restenosis and no recurrent vertebrobasilar ischemic symptoms., Conclusion: For patients with PISSA and medically refractory ischemic symptoms, PTAS can be an effective alternative management., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article., (Copyright © 2021 Formosan Medical Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Severe extracranial carotid stenosis (SECS) patients may present with nonspecific neurological symptoms that require intracranial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and time-of-flight (TOF)-MR angiography (MRA) to exclude intracranial pathology. Recognition of SECS on intracranial TOF-MRA findings is beneficial to provide a prompt carotid imaging study and aggressive stroke prevention. Patients with SECS (January 2016 to May 2019) undergoing percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting (PTAS) were included. Differences in normalized signal intensities (SR ICA ) and diameters (D ICA ) between bilateral petrous internal carotid arteries (ICAs) were calculated 1 cm from the orifice. A hypothesized criterion describing the opacification grades (G OPH ) of bilateral ophthalmic arteries was proposed. We correlated SR ICA (p = 0.041), D ICA (p = 0.001) and G OPH (p = 0.012), with the severity of extracranial carotid stenosis on digital subtractive angiography (DSA) in the examined group (n = 113), and all showed statistical significance in predicting percentages of ICA stenosis. The results were further validated in another patient group with SECS after radiation therapy (n = 20; p = 0.704 between the actual and predicted stenosis grades). Our findings support the evaluation of the signal ratio and diameter of intracranial ICA on TOF-MRA to achieve early diagnosis and provide appropriate management of SECS.

Background: Aortic dissection is a rare but severe complication of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting (PTAS) for stenosis of the subclavian artery (SA). This retrospective study was designed to evaluate the risk factors and outcomes of patients with severe stenosis of the SA who underwent PTAS complicated by aortic dissection., Methods: Between 1999 and 2018, 169 cases of severe symptomatic stenosis of the SA underwent PTAS at our institute. Of them, six cases complicated by aortic dissection were included in this study. We evaluated the demographic features, technical factors of PTAS, and clinical outcomes in these six patients., Results: Aortic dissection occurred in 5.3% (6/113) of all left SA stenting cases but in none of the right SA stenting cases. All patients had hypertension and a high severity of SA stenosis (85.0 ± 13.0%, 60%-95%). Five of the six patients received balloon-expandable stents (83.3%). All patients had spontaneous resolution of the aortic dissection with conservative treatment. In a 63.33 ± 33.07 (7-118) month follow-up, five of the six patients (83.3%) had long-term symptom relief and stent patency., Conclusion: Aortic dissection occurred in patients who underwent PTAS for severe stenosis of the left SA, mainly with balloon-expandable stents. We suggest using self-expandable stents and angioplasty with an undersized balloon during PTAS for severe stenosis of the left proximal SA to prevent aortic dissection., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest related to the subject matter or materials discussed in this article., (Copyright © 2021, the Chinese Medical Association.)

Background: Stent patency after carotid angioplasty and stenting (CAS) correlates not only with stroke prevention but also with improvements in cognition and quality of life by positively influencing cerebral perfusion. The long-term outcomes of CAS after more than 5 years have still not been well described. This retrospective study was designed to evaluate the stent patency and significant restenosis (SR) after CAS with more than 5 years of follow-up., Methods: Between 2006 and 2012, 118 patients with carotid stenosis who underwent 131 CAS procedures with regular annual imaging follow-up for more than 5 years were enrolled. We evaluated their demographic characteristics and the risk factors related to stent restenosis. Patients with SR (restenosis ≥ 50%) were compared with those with no significant restenosis (NSR, patency or restenosis < 50%) to identify the restenosis predictors and restenosis-free survival., Results: Of the 131 CAS procedures, 16.0% (21/131) had SR. A history of head and neck radiotherapy (HNRT) was a predictor for SR (HR, 6.352; 95% CI, 2.504-16.112; p < 0.001) and was associated with shorter restenosis-free survival (log-rank test p value < 0.001, median time of restenosis-free survival was 38 months). Left-sided stenting was an associated factor for SR (HR, 3.007; 95% CI, 1.068-8.467; p = 0.037) with a trend of less restenosis-free survival (log-rank test p value 0.067)., Conclusion: Both HNRT and left-sided carotid stenosis were predictors of SR after CAS in more than 5 years of long-term follow-up. Restenosis-free survival was significantly shorter in patients with prior HNRT than in patients without previous irradiation treatment. We suggest close follow-up and aggressive medical treatment for patients with prior HNRT and left-sided carotid stenosis undergoing CAS., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest related to the subject matter or materials discussed in this article., (Copyright © 2020, the Chinese Medical Association.)

Stenotic lesion rigidity (SLR) has an unclear influence on the outcome of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting (PTAS) for intracranial arterial stenosis. This study evaluated the outcome of PTAS and the relationship of vertebrobasilar SLR to features on vessel wall MRI (VW-MRI) for identifying pathologies of vertebrobasilar stenosis (VBS) and evaluating PTAS outcome. We retrospectively evaluated the results of PTAS in 31 patients with severe VBS. Stenotic lesions were classified as soft (based on predilatation pressure [PP] ≦ 4 atm) in 15 patients or hard (PP >4 atm) in 16 patients. We examined the relationship of SLR to clinical and MR findings. Patients with hard vs soft lesions had atherosclerosis (8/16 [50.0%] vs 2/15 [13.3%]), dissection (0/16 [0.0%] vs 12/15 [80.0%]), and dissection in atherosclerosis (8/16 [50.0%] vs 1/15 [6.7%], P < 0.0001); high intensity signal on the T1WI of VW-MRI (5/16 [31.3%] vs 14/15 [93.3%]) and iso- to low intensity signal (11/16 [68.7%] vs 1/15 [6.7], P = 0.001), and significant in-stent restenosis (>50%) in 5/15 (33.3%) vs 0/15 (0.0%) (P = 0.0421) in the 30 patients who successfully completed PTAS. Vertebrobasilar SLR correlated well with lesion etiology, findings on VW-MRI, and PTAS outcome. Patients with hard stenotic lesions need close follow-up after PTAS.

Background: The angioarchitectures of traumatic indirect CCFs and the effectiveness and safety of transarterial liquid adhesive embolization for these fistulas remain to be evaluated., Methods: A total of 276 consecutive patients with traumatic craniofacial arteriovenous fistula were referred for embolization in the past 15 years. Eleven had traumatic indirect CCFs and were managed with transarterial liquid adhesive embolization. This group was composed of 8 men and 3 women ranging from 15 to 46 years of age. The most frequently observed symptoms were neuro-ophthalmic, followed by bruit and headache. All lesions were single fistula and fed exclusively by meningeal artery. The accessory meningeal artery was involved most often (n = 7), followed by the middle meningeal artery (n = 4). Venous drains were the ophthalmic vein (n = 11) and/or inferior petrous sinus (n = 8). No cortical vein drainage was observed. Liquid adhesives (60%) were used to obliterate all fistulas; 2 patients were also treated with detachable coils., Results: All fistulas were totally occluded with resolutive fistula-related symptoms. Asymptomatic migration of liquid adhesives into the nearby arterial branch was observed in 1 patient. One patient had partial ocular choroidal infarction. No recurrent or residual fistula was found upon clinical follow-up., Conclusions: Angioarchitecture and treatment of traumatic indirect CCFs differed from the spontaneous type of fistulas. By transarterial liquid adhesive embolization, treatment of all fistulas was safe, with effective occlusion and associated low peri-procedural risk. This procedure may be considered as the primary treatment for these traumatic fistulas.

Abstract: Background: Carotid ulceration plaque is a strong risk factor for stroke and systemic vascular events. The purpose of this study was to assess immediate and follow-up ulcer morphology after carotid angioplasty and stenting (CAS). Methods and results: A total of 124 patients were included in the study. Ulcerative plaques were identified in 92 arteries from 81 patients (21% were asymptomatic and 79% symptomatic). The ulcer disappeared immediately after stenting in 36 (39%) of 92 arteries in 50 patients. Patients with initial mild degree of stenosis (50–69% stenosis) prior to stent, Type-3 and Type-4 ulcers were more prone to have residual ulcers immediate after stenting procedure. Ulcers located distal and proximal to the site of maximal stenosis, and ulcers extending outside of the imaginary line connecting the distal and proximal normal borders of the carotid artery were also more likely to have residual ulcers (P <0.001). Follow-up angiograms (mean time after CAS=10.1 months, range=3–28 months) performed in 32 arteries (29 patients) revealed that residual ulceration disappeared in 17 lesions (53%) and became smaller in 15 lesions (47%). During follow-up, ipsilateral neurological symptoms were not evident in any of the 29 patients (mean time after CAS=20.1 months, range=9–41 months). Conclusions: Ulceration morphology, and stenosis severity prior to stent procedure had an impact on ulcer coverage after CAS. Our findings suggest that residual ulcers disappear or improve over time and that with appropriate medication, will not lead to embolic strokes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]