Zhu PC, Shu LF, Dai QH, Tan HT, Wang JB, Wu T. Drug-coated balloon angioplasty for the treatment of intracranial arterial stenosis in a young stroke patient: A case report. World J Clin Cases 2024; 12(19): 3956-3960 [PMID: 38994282 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i19.3956]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Tao Wu, PhD, Chief Doctor, Department of Intervention, Encephalopathy Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine, No. 19 Renmin Road, Zhengzhou 450000, Henan Province, China.wt13592127512@126.com
Research Domain of This Article
Neurosciences
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Peng-Cheng Zhu, Jia-Bin Wang, Tao Wu, Department of Intervention, Encephalopathy Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou 450000, Henan Province, China
Peng-Cheng Zhu, Ling-Feng Shu, Qing-Hai Dai, Hong-Tu Tan, The First Clinical Medical College, Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou 450046, Henan Province, China
Author contributions: Zhu PC and Shu LF contributed to manuscript writing and editing, and data collection; Dai QH, Tan HT, and Wang JB contributed to data analysis; Wu T contributed to conceptualization and supervision; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to disclose.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Tao Wu, PhD, Chief Doctor, Department of Intervention, Encephalopathy Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine, No. 19 Renmin Road, Zhengzhou 450000, Henan Province, China.wt13592127512@126.com
Received: February 25, 2024 Revised: April 25, 2024 Accepted: May 21, 2024 Published online: July 6, 2024 Processing time: 124 Days and 18.5 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Intracranial arterial narrowing is a significant factor leading to brief episodes of reduced blood flow to the brain, known as transient ischemic attacks, or full-blown strokes. While atherosclerosis is commonly associated with intracranial arterial narrowing, it is frequently of a non-atherosclerotic nature in younger patients.
CASE SUMMARY
Here, we present the case of a young stroke patient with narrowing of the middle cerebral artery (MCA), characterized as non-atherosclerotic lesions, who experienced an ischemic stroke despite receiving standard drug therapy. The patient underwent digital subtraction angiography (DSA) to assess the entire network of blood vessels in the brain, revealing significant narrowing (approximately 80%) in the M1 segment of the right MCA. Subsequently, the patient underwent Drug-Coated Balloon Angioplasty to treat the stenosis in the right MCA's M1 segment. Follow-up DSA confirmed the resolution of stenosis in this segment. Although the remaining branches showed satisfactory blood flow, the vessel wall exhibited irregularities. A review of DSA conducted six months later showed no evident stenosis in the right MCA, with a smooth vessel wall.
CONCLUSION
The use of drug-coated balloon angioplasty demonstrated favorable outcomes in repairing and reshaping the blood vessel wall in young patients. Therefore, it may be considered a promising treatment option for similar cases.
Core Tip: Drug-coated balloon angioplasty presents a technically viable solution that avoids the use of foreign materials within intracranial vessels and eliminates the necessity for prolonged dual antiplatelet therapy. Therefore, for young patients experiencing severe narrowing of intracranial arteries resulting in recurrent ischemic stroke episodes despite standard medical interventions, drug-coated balloon angioplasty may offer a favorable treatment alternative.
