Age and Five-Year Outcomes After Carotid Artery Stenting in Symptomatic Carotid Stenosis: A Retrospective Cohort Study

Background Several clinical trials have reported that periprocedural risk of carotid artery stenting (CAS) increase with age. China is experiencing one of the most rapid transitions to an aging society, while the clinical outcomes of CAS in real-world China are still limited. The study aimed to compare the periprocedural and an extending 5-year event rates between younger and older patients treated by CAS to testify the safety of CAS in older patients in China. Methods This is a single center, retrospective cohort study. Symptomatic patients who underwent CAS from Nov 2011 to June 2014 were retrospectively included in this study, The population was divided into two age groups: <70 and >= 70. The main primary endpoint was stroke, myocardial infarction or death occurring at 30 days, or ipsilateral stroke over 5-year after stenting. Results A total of 103 symptomatic patients (<70: 68%; >= 70: 32%) with CAS included in the study. During the 30-day period, the rate of primary outcome was 1.0% with only one stroke in patients younger than 70 years old (P = 1.000). After five years, the rate of primary outcome was low (10.9%, 10/92) despite some of the patients had major stroke or underwent bilateral C1 stenting. There was no significant difference in the 5-year rates of the primary outcome between the young and old groups (12.3% vs 7.4%, P = .718). Kaplan-Meier estimates of the proportion of study participants with a primary endpoint showed that there was no significant age-dependent difference of the stroke and death outcome in symptomatic patients. Conclusions Age (<70 vs >= 70) had no influence on the risk of stroke or death in symptomatic patients either in the short or long term. CAS is an optimal treatment for older patients with cervical carotid artery stenosis, and CAS was safe for those with major stroke or bilateral C1 stenting.