Carotid Artery Near Occlusion: Time to Rethink the Management?

A post hoc analysis of the North American Symptomatic Carotid Endarterectomy Trial (NASCET), European Carotid Surgery Trial (ECST), and VA309 by the Carotid Endarterectomy Trialists Collaboration (CETC)1 showed no five year benefit of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) vs. best medical treatment (BMT) for symptomatic patients with 95% –99% internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis. The benefit in these patients with chronic near occlusion (CNO) was low owing to a relatively low natural course risk, as opposed to a relatively high risk of peri-operative stroke.
Source: European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery - Category: Surgery Authors: Tags: Editorial Source Type: research