The role of the new Valeo stent in treating pulmonary artery stenoses in children with complex cardiac malformations: A report of two cases

Case series Patient: — Final Diagnosis: Pulmonary artery stenosis Symptoms: — Medication: — Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: — OBJECTIVE: Congenital defects/diseases • Unusual or unexpected effect of treatment BACKGROUND: The decision of which stent can be used for treating a congenital heart lesion can be difficult for a pediatric interventional cardiologist. Features of an ideal stent would be to have a low profile to enable small sheaths to be fitted and allow for advancement. It would need to be flexible to negotiate curves of arteries and have sufficient radial strength to prevent recoil of the lesion and vessel. It should have high trackability and wide struts to enable junctional artery flow and prevention of thrombosis and toxic adverse effects from the stent. CASE REPORTS: Much work is being carried out to design the ideal stent and provide the best treatment for congenital heart lesions. We investigated this matter with the use of the Valeo stent in 2 patients. The Valeo stent is a new premounted stent with several advantages for use in children with complex cardiac conditions. We investigated the Valeo stent’s ability to navigate tortuous cardiac anatomy and maintain junctional artery blood flow. In addition, the stents have sufficient radial strength to provide long-term support to the large pulmonary arteries involved. CONCLUSIONS: The new open-design, premounted, stainless steel Valeo stent has been shown to be useful in treating pulmonary artery stenosis and in young children when catheterization is a less popular choice in comparison to balloon angioplasty. In addition to previous use of Valeo stents in coarctation of the aorta, we have shown the benefits of the stent for pulmonary artery stenosis.