Comparison of angioplasty, stents and conventional medical therapy for symptomatic intracranial atherosclerosis: a network meta-analysis

For symptomatic 70–99% intracranial stenosis, no balloon or stent strategy outperformed medical therapy in the long-term network, and bare-metal stenting carried a 30-day cost.

Highlights

• EvidenceMeta-analysis
• What to watch: A randomised trial of drug-coated balloon versus aggressive medical management (NCT07830277) has an estimated primary completion of December 2028.