Publication details

Safety of urgent endarterectomy in acute non-disabling stroke patients with symptomatic carotid artery stenosis: an international multicenter study

Authors	ROUSSOPOULOU A. TSIVGOULIS G. KROGIAS C. LAZARIS A. MOULAKAKIS K. GEORGIADIS G.S. MIKULÍK Robert KAKISIS J.D. ZOMPOLA C. FAISSNER S. CHONDROGIANNI M. LIANTINIOTI C. HUMMEEL T. SAFOURIS A. MATSOT P. VOUMVOURAKIS K. LAZARIDES M. GEROULAKOS G. VASDEKIS S.N.
Year of publication	2019
Type	Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source	European Journal of Neurology
MU Faculty or unit	Faculty of Medicine
Citation
Web	http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ene.13876
Doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ene.13876
Keywords	carotid; endarterectomy; safety; stroke; TIA; urgent
Description	Background and purpose International recommendations advocate that carotid endarterectomy (CEA) should be performed within 2 weeks from the index event in symptomatic carotid artery stenosis (sCAS) patients. However, there are controversial data regarding the safety of CEA performed during the first 2 days of ictus. The aim of this international, multicenter study was to prospectively evaluate the safety of urgent (0-2 days) in comparison to early (3-14 days) CEA in patients with sCAS. Methods Consecutive patients with non-disabling (modified Rankin Scale scores <= 2) acute ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack due to sCAS (>= 70%) underwent urgent or early CEA at five tertiary-care stroke centers during a 6-year period. The primary outcome events included stroke, myocardial infarction or death during the 30-day follow-up period. Results A total of 311 patients with sCAS underwent urgent (n = 63) or early (n = 248) CEA. The two groups did not differ in baseline characteristics with the exception of crescendo transient ischaemic attacks (21% in urgent vs. 7% in early CEA; P = 0.001). The 30-day rates of stroke did not differ (P = 0.333) between patients with urgent (7.9%; 95% confidence interval 3.1%-17.7%) and early (4.4%; 95% confidence interval 2.4%-7.9%) CEA. The mortality and myocardial infarction rates were similar between the two groups. The median length of hospitalization was shorter in urgent CEA [6 days (interquartile range 4-6) vs. 10 days (interquartile range 7-14); P Conclusions Our findings highlight that urgent CEA performed within 2 days from the index event is related to a non-significant increase in the risk of peri-procedural stroke. The safety of urgent CEA requires further evaluation in larger datasets.