Collapse of VBX Balloon-Expandable Endoprosthesis in Bilateral Common Iliac Arteries in a Lean, Elderly Patient with Bent Back

An 87-year-old woman who had previously received bare nitinol self-expandable stent implantation twice into the bilateral common iliac artery (CIA) due to repeated in-stent restenosis presented with acute onset of intermittent claudication. Computed tomography (CT) showed bilateral CIA obstruction with thrombus. Because thrombectomy and ballooning did not achieve recanalization, kissing VBX balloon-expandable endoprostheses were deployed in both CIAs, which resolved the patient's symptoms. However, the symptoms recurred 9 days later, and CT revealed collapsed VBX stent grafts surrounded by blood thrombus. X-rays showed spinal compression of the VBX stent while standing, which might have caused the collapse. We report a case of the collapse of a VBX balloon-expandable endoprosthesis in the bilateral CIAs of an elderly patient with a bent back. Physicians should consider that a bent back could be the cause of VBX collapse even in the CIA when elderly persons present with this deformity.