Early middle cerebral artery stenosis following stent-assisted thrombectomy

Abstract

Stent-assisted thrombectomy (SAT) is an extensively used endovascular treatment method for stroke in which the thrombectomy stents come into direct contact with the vascular intimal surface and entrap the thrombus causing the arterial occlusion. Although there are a few studies that demonstrate that the vessel wall changes in the arteries where stroke intervention is performed, we observed progressive stenosis in early follow-up imaging studies in a case. We present a middle cerebral artery (MCA) stroke patient who had four repetitive stent passes during SAT and developed distal MCA stenosis 2 months after SAT at the control magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). Inclusion of early follow-up MRA studies would be helpful in defining the silent vascular changes in patients who have undergone repetitive SAT.