Dural venous sinus stenting (DVSS) is an accepted treatment option in selected patients with medically refractory idiopathic intracranial hypertension and obstructive venous outflow physiology prior to cerebrospinal flow diversion (CSFD) surgery. There are no randomized controlled studies focusing on outcomes and complication rates for dural venous sinus stenting.

We present the largest comprehensive meta-analysis on DVSS for idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) focusing on success rates, complications, and re-stenting rates to date. We also present a simplified approach to the direct retrograde internal jugular vein (IJ) access for DVSS that allows for expedited procedures.

We performed a retrospective electronic PubMed query of all peer-reviewed articles in the last 15 years between 2003 to 2018. We included all patients who underwent dural venous sinus stenting for a medically refractive IIH and excluded articles without sufficient data on outcomes, complication rates, and re-stenting rates. We also evaluated and compared the outcomes in patients undergoing direct retrograde IJ access DVSS to traditional transfemoral vein access.

A total of 29 papers and 410 patients who underwent DVSS met the criteria for inclusion. DVSS was associated with high technical success [99.5%], low rates of repeated procedure [10%], and low major complication rates [1.5%].

Our retrospective comprehensive review of DVSS for medically refractory IIH suggests that stenting in the appropriately chosen patients is associated with low complication rates, high technical success, and low repeat procedure rates.