Background

Vertebral artery stenosis (narrowing of the vertebral artery) is an important cause of posterior circulation ischaemic stroke. Medical treatment (MT) e.g. controlling risk‐factors and drug treatment, surgery, and endovascular treatment (ET) are the prevailing treatment strategies for symptomatic vertebral artery stenosis. ET consist s of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (balloon catheter through the skin), with or without stenting. However, optimal management of people with symptomatic vertebral artery stenosis has not yet been established.

Objectives

To assess the safety and efficacy of percutaneous transluminal angioplasty, with or without stenting, combined with MT, compared to MT alone, in people with episodes of cerebral ischaemia due to vertebral artery stenosis.

Search methods

We searched the Cochrane Stroke Group, MEDLINE, Embase, BIOSIS, and two other indexes in Web of Science, China Biological Medicine Database, Chinese Science and Technique Journals Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang Data, as well as ClinicalTrials.gov trials register and the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Registry Platform to 23 July 2021.

Selection criteria

We included all randomised controlled trials (RCTs) that compared ET plus MT with MT alone in treating people aged 18 years or over with symptomatic vertebral artery stenosis. We included all types of ET modalities (e.g. angioplasty alone, balloon‐mounted stenting, and angioplasty followed by placement of a self‐expanding stent). MT included risk factor control, antiplatelet therapy, lipid‐lowering therapy, and individualised management for people with hypertension or diabetes.

Data collection and analysis

Two review authors independently screened potentially eligible studies, extracted data, and assessed trial quality and risk of bias.  We applied the GRADE approach to assess the certainty of evidence. The primary outcomes were 30‐day post‐randomisation death/stroke (short‐term outcome) and fatal/non‐fatal stroke after 30 days post‐randomisation to completion of follow‐up (long‐term outcome).

Main results

We included three RCTs with 349 participants with symptomatic vertebral artery stenosis with a mean age of 64.4 years. The included RCTs were at low risk of bias overall. However, all included studies had a high risk of performance bias because blinding of the ET was not feasible.

There was no significant difference in 30‐day post‐randomisation deaths/strokes between ET plus MT and MT alone (risk ratio (RR) 2.33, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.77 to 7.07; 3 studies, 349 participants; low‐certainty evidence). There were no significant differences between ET plus MT and MT alone in fatal/non‐fatal strokes in the territory of the treated vertebral artery stenosis after 30 days post‐randomisation to completion of follow‐up (RR 0.51, 95% CI 0.26 to 1.01; 3 studies, 349 participants; moderate‐certainty evidence), ischaemic or haemorrhagic stroke during the entire follow‐up period (RR 0.77, 95% CI 0.44 to 1.32; 3 studies, 349 participants; moderate‐certainty evidence), death during the entire follow‐up period (RR 0.78, 95% CI 0.37 to 1.62; 3 studies, 349 participants; low‐certainty evidence), and stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA) during the entire follow‐up period (RR 0.65, 95% CI 0.39 to 1.06; 2 studies, 234 participants; moderate‐certainty evidence).

Authors’ conclusions

This Cochrane Review provides low‐ to moderate‐certainty evidence indicating that there are no significant differences in either short‐ or long‐term risks of stroke, death, or TIA between people with symptomatic vertebral artery stenosis treated with ET plus MT and those treated with MT alone.