Cervical Carotid Artery Disease Research Articles

Analysis of occlusive disease of the carotid artery and the stroke syndrome.

The association of cervical carotid artery disease and the stroke syndrome was studied in 300 patients with carotid stenosis and occlusion. In 157 patients there was unilateral or bilateral stenosis; in 143 there was complete occlusion of one or both internal carotids near the bifurcation. Endarterectomy or exploration to establish flow was accomplished in 37 of the 157 cases of stenosis. In cases of complete occlusion, a portion of the artery was excised and cervical sympathectomy performed. Although 41% of the 720 patients with cerebrovascular disease had stenotic or occlusive disease of the carotid with vertebral-basilar systems, procedures to establish better blood flow were undertaken in only 5%. In the majority of cases the multiplicity of abnormalities made it seem inadvisable to attempt surgical correction.

Occlusive vascular disease in the extracranial cerebral circulation.

Although there have been many studies of the clinical aspects of occlusive vascular disease in the extracranial carotid and vertebral arteries, studies of the pathology of these arteries have been few and have usually been confined to the carotid system. The true incidence of disease in these arteries has not been established. Reasons for the lack of studies of the arteries supplying blood to the brain are twofold; namely, removal of the carotid and vertebral arteries has been considered technically difficult, and, until recently, both clinicians and pathologists have been unaware of the high incidence of atherosclerotic narrowing in these vessels. Review of the Literature The possible role of cervical carotid-artery disease in the causation of vascular lesions of the brain was suggested by Hunt1in 1914. He examined 20 patients with hemiplegia and found a diminished carotid pulse on the appropriate side in 4. He called attention to