title: A novel flexible endovascular stent for use in small and tortuous vessels.
abstract: We assessed in vivo the mode of delivery, short-term patency and cellular response to a prototype endovascular stent. The stent is designed for delivery through a modified microcatheter and is retrievable with detachment from a delivery wire effected by electrolysis. We successfully deployed 12 stents in a range of sizes from 3-4 mm in straight and angled arteries of pigs. At control angiography 3 and 6 weeks later, nine arteries were patent, two occluded and one narrowed; patency was not related to vessel or stent size. The device shows promise as a stent for intracranial arteries since it can be delivered through microcatheters small enough for intracranial navigation and provides the operator with greater control than currently available self- or balloon-expanded stents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroradiology, Radcliffe Infirmary, Woodstock Road, Oxford OX2 6HE, UK.
authors.forename: J V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Byrne
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bashiri
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pasco
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Morris
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002404:Catheterization; D002533:Cerebral Angiography; D003251:Constriction, Pathologic; D002532:Intracranial Aneurysm / Q000601:surgery*; D015607:Stents; D013552:Swine