Intervantional management in a patient with subclavian artery stenosis: case report

DAI Jiong, WEN Jie-qing, LI Shan-quan. Department of Neurosurgery, Renji Hospital, Shanghai 200001, China The patient is a 79 years old male. He was admitted for recurrent dizziness accompanied tinnitus during the last 2 weeks. These symptoms were aggravated during the last 4 days. He had a history of hypertension. Murmur was detected on the left subclavian artery. Left upper limb had IVth grade muscle force. The pulse of left radial artery was reduced. The systolic blood pressure of left upper limb was 30 mmHg lower than the right counter part. The Doppler sonography of vertebral artery revealed that there was inverse blood flow in the left vertebral artery. The angiography of left subclavian artery revealed that the left subclavian artery near the opening site(proximal to vertebral artery) was stenosed by approximatel 90%. Left vertebral artery was not detected. The angiography of right vertebral artery revealed that there was partial cerebral bolld flow steal to left subclavian artery via left vertebral artery. We treated this patient with percutaneous transluminal angiogrplasty(PTA)and stent implantation. Detailed description: Femoral artery was punctured, 8F artery theca was introduced. The 8F guiding catheter was introduced to the opening site of left subclavian artery. The 0.014 microwire was passed through the stenosis. The 3*30mm and 6*30mm balloon was introduced subsequently to widen the stenosis to guarantee the stent can pass the stenosis. Finally the 9*30mm Wallstent was introduced. Postoperative angioaphy revealed that there was approximately 5% stenosis remained and the left vertebral artery was patent. The patient’s symptoms and signs were all improved. From literatures, PTA and stent implantation is a safe and effective treatment and a first-line management in foreign countries for the subclavian artery stenosis. This is our first case. We feel that the most appropriate position of the guiding catheter is the key issue in successful treatment. We also think how to reduce the risk of stroke and upper limb ischemia more effectively.