Safety of early endarterectomy in patients with symptomatic carotid artery stenosis: an international multicenter study
2014
Although the latest recommendations suggest that carotid
endarterectomy (CEA) should be performed in symptomatic carotid
artery stenosis (sCAS) patients within 2weeks of the index
event, only a minority of patients undergo surgery within the
recommended time-frame. The aim of this international
multicenter study was to prospectively evaluate the safety of
early CEA in patients with sCAS in everyday clinical practice
settings. Consecutive patients with non-disabling acute
ischaemic stroke (AIS) or transient ischaemic attack (TIA) due
to sCAS (70%) underwent early (14days) CEA at five
tertiary-care stroke centers during a 2-year period. Primary
outcome events included stroke, myocardial infarction (MI) or
death occurring during the 30-day follow-up period and were
defined according to the International Carotid Stenting Study
criteria. A total of 165 patients with sCAS [mean age
6910years; 69% men; 70% AIS; 6% crescendo TIA; 8% with
contralateral internal carotid artery (ICA) occlusion]
underwent early CEA (median elapsed time from symptom onset
8days). Urgent CEA (2days) was performed in 20 cases (12%). The
primary outcomes of stroke and MI were 4.8% [95% confidence
interval (CI) 1.5%-8.1%] and 0.6% (95% CI 0%-1.8%). The
combined outcome event of non-fatal stroke, non-fatal MI or
death was 5.5% (95% CI 2.0%-9.0%). Crescendo TIA, contralateral
ICA occlusion and urgent CEA were not associated (P>0.2) with a
higher 30-day stroke rate. Our findings indicate that the risk
of early CEA in consecutive unselected patients with
non-disabling AIS or TIA due to sCAS is acceptable when the
procedure is performed within 2weeks (or even within 2days)
from symptom onset. Click for the corresponding questions to
this CME article.
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