title: Intra-arterial DynaCT angiography: an alternative tool to assess the patency of intracranial stent lumen.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this retrospective study was to assess the clinical utility of intra-arterial DynaCT angiographic imaging for the evaluation of intracranial stent patency.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between July 2011 and May 2014, 35 patients with symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (ICAS) were treated with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stents. All were evaluated with intra-arterial DynaCT angiographic imaging during the operations and follow-up. All images were further processed with three different kernels (sharp, normal, or smooth).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Thirty-six stents were implanted into the parent arteries. DynaCT provided "good" quality images (median score of 2 or 3 on a 5-point scale) with minimal artifact interference as rated by observers blind to treatment history and other imaging results. The median subjective visibility score was highest (3) using the sharp kernel.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  DynaCT with sharp kernel image processing achieved good visualization of luminal patency following intracranial stents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Southwest Hospital, the Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Southwest Hospital, the Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
authors.forename: Shugui
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Southwest Hospital, the Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
authors.forename: Shoujia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Southwest Hospital, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China.
authors.forename: Xuesong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Southwest Hospital, the Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China. Electronic address: chenkangningcq@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Kangning
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Southwest Hospital, The Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, China. Electronic address: wei.mu2009@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000792:Angiography / Q000379:methods; D017130:Angioplasty / Q000379:methods; D003251:Constriction, Pathologic / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015607:Stents; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods
keywords: DSA; DynaCT; Stenosis; Stenting