A premounted stent that can be implanted in infants and re-dilated to 20 mm: introducing the Edwards Valeo Lifestent.

Intravascular stenting (IS) for vascular stenoses in congenital heart disease provides superior gradient relief and angiographic results over balloon angioplasty (BA) alone. The advantages of IS, however, are difficult to apply to infants, toddlers, and small children due to technical challenges in placing large, long sheaths and the risk of creating future stenoses in stents that cannot be re-dilated to keep pace with somatic growth. This report highlights the Edwards premounted re-dilatable biliary stent, which was safely placed in four infants and small children with excellent hemodynamic and angiographic results. Bench testing revealed the stent has adequate radial strength and can be re-dilated to a maximal diameter of 20 mm. Copyright 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.