Background Symptomatic brain hemorrhage was a significant cause of periprocedural stroke or death following stenting in the Stenting and Aggressive Medical Management for Preventing Recurrent Stroke in Intracranial Stenosis trial, which called into question the safety of Wingspan stenting for intracranial atherosclerosis. This study analyzed the role of a learning curve in the safety and outcome of Wingspan stenting from the experience of 95 consecutive patients at a single center.

Methods In this prospective study the endpoints were major stroke or death (modified Rankin Scale score >3) within 30 days, other neurological complications, technical procedural problems, technical success in completion of angioplasty and stenting and recurrent ischemic stroke in the corresponding vascular territory after 30 days. Data splitting into quarters was used for learning curve analysis.

Results The periprocedural major stroke or death rate was 4.2% (4/95), minor stroke rate was 5.3% (5/95), total 9.5% (9/95). The technical procedural problem rate was 11.6% (11/95) and the technical success rate was 93.7% (89/95). The 89 patients were followed for 38.9±22.7 months (median 40.8, range 0.2–72, 3463 patient-months) after stenting. The risk of recurrent ischemic stroke in the corresponding vascular territory was 0.7% per patient per year (2/3463 patient-months). Guidewire- or angioplasty-related hemorrhage was the major cause of periprocedural major stroke or death (3/4, 75%) and did not occur in the last quarter. Periprocedural intracerebral hemorrhage was uncommon and perforator stroke did not occur.

Conclusions There may be a learning curve for mastering the safety precautions of Wingspan stenting for intracranial atherosclerosis.