Intravascular Lithotripsy Assisted Carotid Stent Expansion

Purpose: Carotid stenting has been demonstrated to effectively reduce the risk of stroke in appropriately selected patients. However, application of carotid artery stenting remains limited in the setting of heavily calcified disease. Case Report: We present here 3 patients, who were treated with intravascular lithotripsy of the internal and common carotid arteries. All 3 patients recovered uneventfully and have demonstrated excellent stent expansion on surveillance imaging. Conclusion: Intravascular lithotripsy is an effective adjunct for enabling stent expansion in heavily calcified lesions and can be employed for the treatment of high-risk carotid lesions that would otherwise be poor endovascular candidates. Clinical Impact Carotid artery stenting via transfemoral or transcarotid application remains limited by heavily calcified disease. We present here the off-label use of intravascular lithotripsy as an effective adjunct for enabling stent expansion in heavily calcified lesions. There is potential for intravascular lithotripsy to expand the use of carotid stenting.