Carotid stenting with proximal cerebral protection in symptomatic low-grade vulnerable recurrent carotid stenosis:

Background:Although the management of carotid disease is well established for symptomatic lesions ⩾70%, carotid revascularization for symptomatic low-grade (⩽50%) stenosis is not actually supported by data from randomized clinical trials. Such patients may occasionally have recurrent neurological symptoms despite optimal medical treatment owing to vulnerable plaques. In such cases, carotid artery stenting (CAS) may represent an option for treatment but this has not been tested in clinical trials. This study analyzed early and long-term outcomes of CAS performed in patients with low-grade symptomatic recurrent carotid stenosis.Methods:From a prospective registry of 322 carotid revascularization in symptomatic patients, 21 consecutive patients with low-grade symptomatic recurrent carotid stenosis who underwent CAS with proximal cerebral protection device Mo.Ma, after ruling out any other source of cerebral embolization, were involved in the study.All patients had suggestive evidence of unstable plaque or pl...