Intracranial stents: More strokes than with drug treatment alone

The risk of having another stroke is higher if patients, after dilation of their blood vessels in the brain, not only receive clot-inhibiting drugs, but also have small tubes called stents inserted. However, studies have provided no hint of a benefit from stenting, which is also referred to with the abbreviation "PTAS." This is the conclusion reached in the rapid report of the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG), as published on 9 October 2014.