Novel usage of everolimus-eluting coronary stent for intracranial atherosclerotic disease: a technical report and case series.

Objectives: This report describes the use of an Everolimus-eluting stent (Xience Skypoint stent) for the treatment of medically-refractory ICAD.

Design: Retrospective, case-series.

Setting: In-hospital patients.

Participants: All patients in this report had a history of stroke secondary to ICAD. All patients failed aggressive medical treatments and had recurrence of symptoms despite anticoagulation or dual-antiplatelet therapy plus a statin. Diagnostic angiogram in each case showed severe vessel stenosis, therefore patients were recommended for intracranial artery stenting.

Main outcome measures: Technical feasibility of deploying Xience Skypoint stent for treatmet of ICAD.

Results: The Xience Skypoint stent was safely and effectively deployed in the vertebral artery (x1) and the internal carotid artery (x2) using trans-ulnar (x1), trans-radial (x1), and trans-femoral (x1) approaches without the use of an intermediate catheter.

Conclusion: Second-generation EES such as Xience Skypoint may be utilized for treatment of medically-refractory ICAD. This technical report serves as a proof of concept for further studies analysing long-term safety and efficacy of such stents for treatment of ICAD.