Cerebral artery restenosis following transluminal balloon angioplasty for vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage

BACKGROUND: Although percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) is a widely used less invasive method to treat coronary artery stenosis, 10% of treated patients experience restenosis. Restenosis also occurs in approximately 5% of patients subjected to carotid artery stenting. Animal and human data suggested that restenosis is a response to injury incurred during PTA. As PTA has come into wide use to manage symptomatic cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) we studied the incidence of restenosis after PTA for cerebral vasospasm. METHODS: Our study population consisted of 32 patients who had undergone PTA. They were followed by cerebral or 3DCT angiography or MRA for 6 126 months post-PTA (mean 48.65 months) to diagnose restenosis of the cerebral artery. We compared the size of the cerebral artery on the PTA and the contralateral side. RESULTS: All 32 patients underwent successful PTA of 38 vascular territories and all manifested angiographic improvement of vasospasm. None suffered restenosis during the follow up period. CONCLUSION: PTA resulted in a significant improvement in the vessel diameter in patients with vasospasm after SAH and they did not suffer restenosis in the course of prolonged follow-up.