Balloon-mounted stenting for ICAS in a multicenter registry study in China: a comparison with the WEAVE/WOVEN trial

Background The outcome of deploying balloon-mounted stents for symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (ICAS) has not been fully investigated. In this study we evaluate the safety and long-term outcome of using balloon-mounted stents to treat symptomatic ICAS in comparison with the WEAVE/WOVEN study. Methods In a multicenter registry study of stenting for symptomatic intracranial artery stenosis in China, 159 patients treated with an intracranial balloon-mounted stent approved by the China Food and Drug Administration were evaluated. The morphological features of the lesions were categorized by Mori classification. The endpoints, including periprocedural and long-term clinical and radiological outcomes, were the same as those in the WEAVE/WOVEN study. Results In the present study the mean percent stenosis before and after stenting was 84.0% and 6.1%, respectively. The proportions of Mori A, Mori B, and Mori C lesions were 33.3%, 52.2%, and 14.5%, respectively. The 72-hour rates of stroke and mortality after the procedure were 0%. The 1-year rates of any stroke, ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, and death were 6.3% (10/159), 5.7% (9/159), 0.6% (1/159), and 0.6% (1/159), respectively. The 1-year rate of in-stent restenosis (ISR) was 23.4% (15/64). The rate of ISR in Mori C lesions (53.8%, 7/13) was significantly higher than that in Mori A (15.8%, 3/19) or Mori B lesions (15.6%, 5/32) (p=0.024). Conclusions The short-term and long-term outcomes of using a balloon-mounted stent for symptomatic ICAS with focal and non-angular lesions (Mori A and B type) and smooth arterial access were comparable to the results of the WEAVE/WOVEN trial.