Letter by Sposato et al Regarding Article, “Neurocognitive Improvement After Carotid Artery Stenting in Patients With Chronic Internal Carotid Artery Occlusion and Cerebral Ischemia”

Abstract

To the Editor: We read with interest the article “Neurocognitive Improvement After Carotid Artery Stenting in Patients With Chronic Internal Carotid Artery Occlusion and Cerebral Ischemia” by Lin et al.1 The authors state that they found an improvement of global cognitive function, attention, and psychomotor processing speed in patients with chronic internal carotid artery occlusion undergoing carotid artery stenting. Similarly, in a recent prospective study, we found an improvement of executive functioning after carotid artery stenting among patients with internal carotid artery stenosis.2 Despite the innovative aspect of Lin et al's study (eg, comprising patients with internal carotid artery occlusion, unlike previous studies including participants with unilateral internal carotid artery stenosis), we would like to point out some concerns regarding methodological aspects that could affect the validity of its results. The authors found an improvement of mean values on the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale, …