title: [Spontaneous Dilatation of Carotid Artery Stents Three Months after the Procedure, without the Need for Post-CAS Balloon Dilatation].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this retrospective study was to investigate whether the radial force of a self-expandable stent alone is sufficient to dilate an atherosclerotic carotid artery without the need for post-carotid artery stenting (CAS) balloon dilatation (PCasBD).
  
  
  METHODS
  We included in our analysis patients who had undergone (1) elective CAS without PCasBD from January 2012 to March 2014, and (2) follow-up conventional angiography 3 months after CAS. We recorded the patients' baseline characteristics and stent types (open-cell [OP] or closed-cell [CL]). Using the minimum width on the lateral projection, stent diameters (SDs) were measured at the site both post-operatively and 3 months after CAS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-eight lesions in 55 patients were analyzed. The average age of the patients was 74.4 years;the median SD immediately after CAS was 3.27 mm (interquartile range: 3.09-3.64 mm), while after 3 months it was 3.97 mm (3.58-4.25 mm), a significant increase (p<0.0001). In Regarding OP stents specifically (n=18), the median SD increased from 3.59 to 4.05 mm, while the median diameter of CL stents (n=44) increased from 3.22 to 3.83 mm. The median diameter of OP stents was larger than that of CL stents at both time points (p<0.05), whereas the expansion rate of CL stents was higher.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  All stents had spontaneously dilated by 10% to 20% without PCasBD. The diameter of OP stents was larger than that of CL stents, both immediately and 3 months after CAS.(Received:April 1, 2015, Accepted:August 3, 2015).
authors.affiliation: Department of Stroke Treatment, Shonan Kamakura General Hospital.
authors.forename: Yuhei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tanno
authors.forename: Takahisa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: Tomonori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iwata
authors.forename: Yoshinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Aoyagi
authors.forename: Shigen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kasakura
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshioka
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000792:Angiography; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000601:surgery*; D004108:Dilatation, Pathologic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015607:Stents; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome