Safety of carotid stenting shown in study

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

Results from the largest ever multi center study show that widening the carotid arteries with a stent has a low complication rate.
Thickening of the carotid artery, which serves the brain and runs through the neck, is a risk factor for stroke. Some patients do not have any symptoms of incipient stroke, but can still benefit from having surgery to unblock the carotid arteries.

But some cannot have conventional surgery because of other medical conditions. For them, stenting - placing a device that keeps the arteries open - is an option. A team led by scientists at Columbia University Medical Center now reports on 2,500 patients who were treated with carotid stenting (all were at some risk from conventional surgery).

The overall rate of major complications - death, stroke or heart attack - was 5.7 per cent within 30 days, which compares favorably with what other studies have found for carotid stenting. This safety data may help the procedure become more widely accepted.

Source
American College of Cardiology meeting 14th March 2006