Fully Covered Self-Expandable Metal Stent in Tracheobronchial Disorders: Clinical Experience

Background: The third-generation fully covered self-expandable metallic stent (SEMS) has been developed to solve the problems of difficult removal and in-stent granuloma formation related to the uncovered or partially covered type. There are few written reports about the performance of this type of stents with early encouraging results. Objectives: To report and analyse our experience with the Silmet ® stent in the management of malignant and benign tracheobronchial disorders. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed medical records of patients who underwent fully covered SEMS Silmet placement at the Interventional Pulmonology Unit, La Maddalena Cancer Center, Palermo, Italy, between May 2010 and August 2013. Results: Stents were placed in 52 patients with malignant (n = 49) and benign airway obstruction (n = 2) and broncho-oesophageal fistula (n = 1). SEMSs were inserted into the trachea (n = 19), the main bronchi (n = 21) and the peripheral bronchi (n = 31). Besides 1 procedural dislocation, the deployment was successful in all patients with an Received: February 4, 2014 Accepted after revision: September 11, 2014 Published online: January 15, 2015 Dr. Roberto Marchese Interventional Pneumology Unit, La Maddalena Cancer Center Via San Lorenzo Colli 312 IT–90100 Palermo (Italy) E-Mail momarc313 @ yahoo.it © 2015 S. Karger AG, Basel 0025–7931/15/0891–0049$39.50/0