Endovascular therapy for atherosclerotic renovascular disease: Technical results with the Palmaz (R)-Corinthian (TM) stent.

Objective: To evaluate the technical performance and delivery characteristi cs of the Palmaz-Corinthian stent for endovascular therapy of atherosclerot ic renovascular disease. Methods: 61 patients underwent implantation of 76 Palmaz-Corinthian (PC) stents in 72 arteries. 50 original PC and 26 PC sten ts with the modified IQ- design were employed. The indications comprised pr imary stenting of ostial (n=49) or truncal (n=1) stenosis or occlusion (n=3 ), and selective stenting following complicated (dissection, n=4) or unsucc essful (n=8) angioplasty. The remaining stents were placed in patients with recurrent stenosis (n=5) or acute aortic dissection (n=2) involving the re nal artery. Mean severity and length of stenosis were 81,3% and 9.8 mm, res pectively. 39 lesions were rated eccentric or calcified. Data on technical success, complication rate, delivery characteristics and ease of placement compared to standard renal stents were retrieved from a prospective multi-c enter registry. Results: Stent delivery was successful in all patients, maj or complications were not reported. Stent placement was suboptimal in 7 of 72 cases: 4 stents were located too distally in the renal artery, necessita ting proximal coaxial overstenting in 2 cases. The distal part of the steno sis was incompletely covered and the orifice of a segmental branch inapprop riately overstented in one case each. One stent was dislodged from the ball oon, resulting in stent protrusion in the aortic lumen. Significnt residual stenosis after stenting was not observed. Overall stent deliverability, tr ackability and potential repositioning inside the stenosis were rated posit ive, radio-opacity was rated superior for the IQ design, Conclusion: Techni cal performance and delivery characteristics of the Palmaz-Corinthian stent have been significantly improved compared to the Palmaz design, allowing m ostly correct placement in renal artery stenoses with a low complication ra te.