@article {Grubere32, author = {Philipp Gruber and Carlos Garcia-Esperon and Jatta Berberat and Timo Kahles and Martin Hlavica and Javier Anon and Michael Diepers and Krassen Nedeltchev and Luca Remonda}, title = {Neuro Elutax SV drug-eluting balloon versus Wingspan stent system in symptomatic intracranial high-grade stenosis: a single-center experience}, volume = {10}, number = {12}, pages = {e32--e32}, year = {2018}, doi = {10.1136/neurintsurg-2017-013699}, publisher = {British Medical Journal Publishing Group}, abstract = {Background Intracranial atherosclerotic disease is a well-known cause of ischemic stroke. Following the SAMMPRIS trial, medical treatment is favored over stenting. Drug-eluting balloons (DEB) are widely used in coronary angioplasty, showing better results than bare-surface balloons. There is little evidence of DEB employment in intracranial stenosis, especially of paclitaxel-eluted balloons (pDEB). The Neuro Elutax SV (Aachen Resonance) is the first CE certificated pDEB for intracranial use.Objective To compare pDEB Neuro Elutax SV (ElutaxDEB) with the Wingspan/Gateway stent system (WingspanStent).Materials and methods A single-center, open-label, retrospective cohort study of 19 patients with symptomatic atherosclerotic intracranial high-grade stenosis treated with either ElutaxDEB or WingspanStent from a tertiary stroke center in Switzerland.Results Eight patients (42\%) received ElutaxDEB. Median clinical follow-up was 10 months for the WingspanStent and 9.5 months for ElutaxDEB (P=0.36). No differences were found in the clinical baseline characteristics, with a median stenosis grade of 80\% for the WingspanStent and 81\% for the ElutaxDEB (P=0.87). The compound endpoint {\textquoteleft}ischemic re-event and/or restenosis{\textquoteright} was significantly lower for ElutaxDEB (13\% vs 64\%; P=0.03, OR 0.08 (95\% CI 0.007 to 0.93; P=0.043) than for the WingspanStent.Conclusions The ElutaxDEB may be a promising alternative treatment for patients with symptomatic high-grade intracranial stenosis showing a significantly lower rate of ischemic re-events or restenosis in comparison with the WingspanStent-treated patients with a similar safety profile. Further studies will be needed to definitively elucidate the role of pDEB in the management of symptomatic intracranial high-grade stenosis.}, issn = {1759-8478}, URL = {https://jnis.bmj.com/content/10/12/e32}, eprint = {https://jnis.bmj.com/content/10/12/e32.full.pdf}, journal = {Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery} }