Efficacy and safety of carotid artery stenting for stroke prevention

Background: Extracranial carotid artery stenosis is a leading cause of ischemic stroke. Carotid endarterectomy ( CEA) is the gold-standard management for secondary stroke prevention yet carotid artery stenting ( CAS) has emerged in the last decade as an alternative for high surgical risk patients.Purpose: To assess the effectiveness, safety and outcomes of CAS in extra-cranial carotid artery stenosis patients in terms of stroke prevention.Methodology: Twenty patients with symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis were enrolled between 2012 and 2014. Symptomatic patients were eligible for CAS if the internal carotid artery stenosis was >= 50%, while 80% was the threshold in asymptomatic patients.Results: Symptomatic patients enrolled were fifteen ( 75%) and asymptomatic patients were five ( 25%). Two patients ( 10%) were excluded owing to target vessel occlusion. One patient ( 5%) underwent bilateral CAS. The procedure was successful in eighteen patients ( 90%) one of them complicated by distal embolization ( 5%). One patient died secondary to associated chronic liver disease ( 5%), otherwise no stroke or death was recorded along the follow-up period.Conclusion: Careful patient selection and technique optimization are crucial to improve clinical outcome which make it a safe alternative for surgical revascularization in stroke prevention. (C) 2015 The Authors. The Egyptian Society of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.