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(Stroke. 2006;37:2858.)
© 2006 American Heart Association, Inc.

Cochrane Corner

Angioplasty With or Without Stenting for Intracranial Artery Stenosis

From the Department of Neurology (S.C.-F.), Souers Stroke Institute, St. Louis University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Mo, and the Colorado Neurologic Institute (A.L.D.), Englewood, Colo.

Correspondence to Salvador Cruz-Flores, MD, Department of Neurology, St. Louis University Hospital, 3635 Vista Ave, St. Louis, MO. E-mail cruzfls@slu.edu

Key Words: angioplasty • intracranial artery stenosis • stent placement

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

	Introduction

 
Intracranial artery stenosis causes 10% of all ischemic strokes. The annual rate of recurrent vascular ischemic events is very high (20%).^1,2 Angioplasty with or without stent placement is feasible; however, its safety and efficacy have not been systematically studied.

	Objectives

 
We sought to determine the efficacy and safety of angioplasty combined with best medical treatment compared with best medical treatment alone for preventing recurrent ischemic strokes, death, and vascular events in patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack resulting from intracranial artery stenosis.

	Search Strategy

 
We searched the Cochrane Stroke Group Trials Register (last searched March 2006), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL; The Cochrane Library Issue 1, 2006), MEDLINE (1966 to March 2006), EMBASE (1980 to February 2006), and Science Citation Index (1945 to March 2006). We searched reference lists of relevant articles and contacted authors and experts in the field.

	Selection Criteria

 
Randomized or otherwise-controlled studies comparing best medical care plus angioplasty of the intracranial cerebral arteries, with or without stent placement, with best medical care alone were included. Studies were included only if data for clinically significant end points such as recurrent ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, and death were available.

	Data Collection and Analysis

 
Two review authors selected trials for inclusion, independently assessed trial quality, and extracted the data. Calculation of relative treatment effects with subgroup analysis was done when possible.

	Main Results

 
No randomized controlled trials were found. There were 79 articles of interest, consisting of open-label series with 3 or more cases. The overall perioperative rate of stroke was 7.9% (95% CI, 5.5% . . . [Full Text of this Article]