Results of a Single Center's Stenting Procedure for the Treatment of Carotid Stenosis

Abstract

Stenting may be a safer alternative to endarterectomy for treating carotid artery stenosis (CAS), but its long-term efficacy is uncertain. There is a lack of long-term and noncontrolled clinical trial data that reflects "real-world" CAS. This study aimed to analyze the long-term efficacy and safety of our center's CAS procedure. We retrospectively analyzed our database of patients who underwent CAS. Patient demographic data, previous risk factors, diagnostic and procedural information, and clinical and image follow-up data were collected from up to 1 year after treatment. Overall, 187 patients were analyzed. Our patient population largely comprised higher-risk patients compared with the patient populations of randomized controlled trials. We had more symptomatic (n= 145, 77.5%) than asymptomatic patients (n= 42, 22.5%), and 49% of patients had >90% stenosis. By the 30-day follow-up, there were 10 major adverse events (5.3%) observed in 8 patients (4.2%), including 7 strokes (3 ischemic and 4 hemorrhagic) and 3 deaths. By the 1-year follow-up, 6 strokes and 5 deaths occurred in 9 patients (4.8%), and color Doppler control showed that 87.6% of patients had stenosis-free stents. Despite our high-risk population group, there were high rates of successful stent placement, low complication rates, good clinical outcomes, and low rates of stenting restenosis.