flow-diverter stent
Flow-diverter stents are relatively new and important devices in the management of intracranial aneurysms, especially ones that are large, broad-necked or fusiform.
Complications
In a multi-center study in Italy, Briganti et al. reported an overall morbidity rate of 3.7% and a mortality rate of 5.9. The mentioned complications in the literature include:
- side branch occlusion, such as ophthalmic artery and anterior choroidal artery
- in-stent thrombosis
- infarction
- delayed hemorrhage, both parenchymal and subarachnoid
- peri-aneurysmal edema, that is extension of the inflammatory process accompanying aneurysm thrombosis causing adjacent cerebral edema
- death
History and etymology
Somewhat surprisingly the word 'stent' is actually an eponym, originally named after Charles Stent (1807-1885), a largely-forgotten British dentist. He invented an improved material for forming dental impressions, and set up a company to manufacture it. During the Great War, J F Esser, a Dutch surgeon used a mold of Stent's Compound as a fixative for skin grafting in injured infantrymen. This innovative use, was rapidly adopted into practice, and stenting as a concept rapidly segued into multiple specialties .