UB Surgeons Perform State's First "Wingspan Stent" Procedure to Prevent Stroke

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Nationally renowned neurosurgeons from the University at Buffalo's Department of Neurosurgery today performed New York State's first "Wingspan Stent" procedure on three patients at high risk for stroke.

The surgeons will be available to describe and discuss the procedure this afternoon -- after the surgeries have been completed -- at Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital, 3 Gates Circle, Buffalo, or by telephone. The Kaleida Stroke Center at Millard Fillmore Gates Hospital is the region's only stroke center, as designated by the New York State Department of Health.

The Wingspan Stent device, approved by the FDA in August, is used to treat patients with hardened arteries in the brain, a condition known as intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD). Sixty thousand patients each year suffer a stroke caused by ICAD, according L. Nelson Hopkins, MD., one of the UB neurosurgeons performing today's Wingspan Stent procedure.

"Hardening of the arteries in the brain can cause a major stroke," explains Hopkins, professor and chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery in the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and chief of neurosurgery for Kaleida Health. "This new stent has the potential to prevent strokes caused by ICAD. It is the first stent evaluated and approved by the FDA for treatment of this disease and we are the first stroke center in New York State to treat patients with this device."

Elad Levy, M.D., associate professor of neurosurgery and radiology at UB, also will be performing the Wingspan Stent procedure. The Wingspan Stent was developed by Boston Scientific.