COVERED SELF-EXPANDING TRANSHEPATIC BILIARY STENTS - CLINICAL PILOT-STUDY

Purpose: We report our preliminary results with a new type of self-exp anding covered stent for treatment of malignant biliary obstruction. M ethods: Wallstents, fully covered with high elasticity polyurethane, w ith an unconstrained diameter of 10 mm and a total length of 69 mm, we re placed transhepatically under fluoroscopic guidance in five patient s, The length of the biliary obstruction varied between 30-50 mm. At 1 and 3 months (82-98 days) clinical assessment, serum bilirubin measur ement, and ultrasound examination of the biliary tree were performed. Results: Initial uncomplicated deployment of the stents and internal d rainage was possible in all patients, Distal stent migration resulted in early biliary reobstruction in one patient. At 3-month follow-up, p artial reobstruction, most probably due to sludge formation, was found in another patient. Conclusion: Our initial results indicate that the covered, self-expanding Wallstent endoprosthesis can be reliably and safely deployed transhepatically for malignant biliary obstruction.