THE TREATMENT OF FOCAL AORTIC-ARCH BRANCH LESIONS WITH PALMAZ STENTS

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and effe ctiveness of Palmaz stents as a less morbid alternative to traditional surgery for focal aortic arch branch lesions. Methods: Twenty-two pat ients with symptoms and a mean age of 61.3 years were treated from Jul y 1991 to May 1995 with 26 stents at the following locations: 8 innomi nate artery, 5 left common carotid artery, 1 right common carotid arte ry, and 12 left subclavian. Procedures were carried out in an operatin g room with patients receiving either local anesthetic in 12 cases or general anesthetic in 10. Surgical exposure of either the cervical com mon carotid or brachial artery allowed precautionary distal clamping b efore retrograde stent deployment to prevent atheroembolization. Resul ts: Initial success was possible in 92.3% (24 of 26) of cases. There w ere no strokes or deaths. During a mean follow-up period of 27 months, 22 of 26 (85%) vessels have remained patent and the patients symptom free. Conclusion: Focal aortic branch lesions can be effectively and s afely treated with Palmaz stents.