Brain stent cannot prevent stroke: study

English.news.cn    A device inserted into the brain to prevent fatal strokes likely does more harm for high-risk patients, according to a new study. Stroke is the fourth-leading cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the United States. Researchers involved in the study carried in the New England Journal of Medicine tracked 451 patients in 50 medical centers who had recently suffered a stroke or stroke-like symptoms caused by narrowing of a major brain artery. As a result, 14.7 percent of patients in the stenting group had a stroke or died within the first 30 days, whereas 5.8 percent of patients in the group that received only drugs and underwent lifestyle changes. The Wingspan device, which expands a major artery in the brain to help improve blood flow, is the only system approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for certain high-risk stroke patients. "Although technological advances have brought intracranial stenting into practice, we have now learned that, when tested in a large group, this particular device did not lead to a better health outcome," said Dr. Walter Koroshetz, deputy director of NINDS, part of the government's National Institutes of Health. Marc Chimowitz of the Medical University of South Carolina, who led the study, said the findings have immediate implications for doctors. And some researchers who were part of the study said they still think there may be a place for stents. (Agencies)