Carotid endarterectomy for carotid artery stenosis

Objective To investigate the efficacy of carotid endarterectomy(CEA) in treatment of carotid artery stenosis.Methods From January 2001 to May 2011,CEA was performed 93 times in 90 patients with carotid artery stenosis.Of whom,78 cases were male and 15 cases were female,and the ages ranged from 50 to 78 years(average of 65.6 years).Of the patients,62 cases experienced transient ischemic attack(TIA) and 31 cases suffered cerebral infarction before surgery.All the patients had confirmed diagnosis of carotid artery stenosis greater than 80% by cerebral angiography and/or CT angiography(CTA).Twenty-two patients had contralateral carotid stenosis or occlusion.Results The clinical symptoms,such as the disappearance of TIA and the recovery of memory or language problems,improved after surgery in all the 90 patients.Eighty patients were followed up for one month to 36 months after surgery.Restenosis of the surgical site occurred in 15 cases(stenosis less than 25%),one of whom developed a stroke and another one had TIA that was improved by conservative treatment.The remaining 13 cases had no clinical symptoms.Conclusions CEA is a safe and effective procedure for treatment of carotid artery stenosis.