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Background: The impact of carotid artery stent fractures on the incidence of adverse clinical events remains unclear. The objective of this study is to report the stent fracture rate and its association with in-stent restenosis and adverse outcomes in the ACT-1 trial (Carotid Angioplasty and Stenting Versus Endarterectomy in Asymptomatic Subjects Who Are at Standard Risk for Carotid Endarterectomy With Significant Extracranial Carotid Stenotic Disease).Methods: ACT-1 is a prospective multicenter trial of patients who have standard surgical risk with severe asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis randomly assigned to carotid artery stenting or carotid endarterectomy (Abbott Vascular). The primary end point was a composite of death, stroke, or myocardial infarction during the 30 days after the procedure or ipsilateral stroke during the 365 days after the procedure. After 771 patients were enrolled, successively randomly assigned patients were required to undergo annual radiographic (x-ray) analysis for stent fracture. Images were independently adjudicated by a core laboratory.Results: Of 1021 patients treated with carotid artery stenting during a mean follow-up of 3.1±1.6 years, 939 had at least 1 x-ray during the follow-up period. Stent fracture was reported in 51 (5.4%) patients. With a maximum follow-up period of 5 years, adverse clinical outcomes occurred in 39 patients with at least 1 x-ray during the follow-up. Of 826 (80.9%) subjects who underwent both duplex ultrasound and x-ray, 822 (99.5%) were interpretable. There was no association between stent fracture and the primary end point (P=0.86) or with restenosis (P=0.53).Conclusions: In this large, independently adjudicated, multicenter study, the stent fracture rate was low and not associated with major adverse clinical events or in-stent restenosis.Clinical Trial Registration: URL: https://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT00106938. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/purpose: Carotid artery stenting (CAS) and carotid artery endarterectomy (CEA) are complementary techniques for management of patients with carotid artery stenosis. This study investigates the impact of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and age on outcomes after carotid artery revascularization.Methods/materials: National Inpatient Sample was surveyed for CAS and CEA among stage 3 and 4 CKD and stage 5/end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients from 2004 to 2012. Primary endpoint was in-hospital major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events (MACCE) stratified by kidney function and age. Regression analysis and propensity score matching were utilized.Results: There were 3299 patients that underwent CEA and 652 underwent CAS with stage 3 and 4 CKD. Whereas, 1630 patients underwent CEA and 511 patients underwent CAS with stage 5 CKD/ESRD. Patients undergoing CAS had more in-hospital MACCE. Coronary artery disease (OR1.35, 95%CI:1.07-1.70) and CAS (OR1.35, 95%CI:1.02-1.77) were independently associated with MACCE for stage 3 and 4 CKD patients. For the stage 5 CKD/ESRD cohort, CAS (OR1.75, 95%CI:1.29-2.37) was independently associated with MACCE. Stratifying by age, showed no difference in event rates except for higher MACCE among patients <60years old with stage 5 CKD/ESRD undergoing CAS (p<0.001). Propensity score matching showed that treatment type had no significant effect on MACCE rates.Conclusions: Among CKD cohorts studied nationally, in-hospital MACCE were higher for patients that underwent CAS. Overall, age group analyses showed that there was no difference in MACCE rates between CAS and CEA. Although CAS was independently associated with MACCE, propensity score matching showed no risk difference of MACCE between CAS and CEA for either CKD cohort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To describe geographic variation in population-based rates of carotid artery stenting (CAS) and carotid endarterectomy (CEA) performed in Medicare beneficiaries.Methods and Results: Medicare claims and enrollment data were used to calculate age, sex, and race-adjusted rates of CAS and CEA for Medicare beneficiaries in each of 306 hospital referral regions between 1998 and 2007. Procedures were identified using a combination of Current Procedural Terminology codes as well as diagnostic and procedural ICD-9 codes. Overall, the rate of carotid revascularization has fallen slightly over the last decade (3.8 procedures per 1000 in 1998, 3.1 procedures per 1000 in 2007; P<0.0001). Although the use of CEA decreased, from 3.6 to 2.5 procedures per 1000 beneficiaries in 2007 (P<0.0001), the use of CAS has increased >4-fold between 1998 and 2007, growing from 0.1 to 0.6 CAS procedures per 1000 beneficiaries (P<0.0001). Further, CAS rapidly disseminated across the country over the last decade. In 1998, 66% of hospital referral regions had a hospital that performed CAS; however, by 2007, nearly all (95%) hospital referral regions performed CAS (P<0.0001). Last, in regions with the highest utilization rates of CAS, it appeared that CAS was performed as a substitute for CEA. There was little evidence that CAS was being performed in addition to CEA, as no correlation existed between regional rates of CAS and CEA (r=0.06).Conclusions: Even though CEA was used less frequently in 2007 than 1998, the use of CAS has grown significantly. Although regional variation in the use of CEA has remained fairly constant, regional variation has increased in the use of CAS. Given these changes in practice patterns, careful examination of the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of CAS is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To determine whether carotid endarterectomy provides protection against subsequent cerebral ischemia in men with ischemic symptoms in the distribution of significant (greater than 50%) ipsilateral internal carotid artery stenosis.Design: Prospective, randomized, multicenter trial.Setting: Sixteen university-affiliated Veterans Affairs medical centers.Patients: Men who presented within 120 days of onset of symptoms that were consistent with transient ischemic attacks, transient monocular blindness, or recent small completed strokes between July 1988 and February 1991. Among 5000 patients screened, 189 individuals were randomized with angiographic internal carotid artery stenosis greater than 50% ipsilateral to the presenting symptoms. Forty-eight eligible patients who refused entry were followed up outside of the trial.Outcome Measures: Cerebral infarction or crescendo transient ischemic attacks in the vascular distribution of the original symptoms or death within 30 days of randomization.Intervention: Carotid endarterectomy plus the best medical care (n = 91) vs the best medical care alone (n = 98).Results: At a mean follow-up of 11.9 months, there was a significant reduction in stroke or crescendo transient ischemic attacks in patients who received carotid endarterectomy (7.7%) compared with nonsurgical patients (19.4%), or an absolute risk reduction of 11.7% (P = .011). The benefit of surgery was more profound in patients with internal carotid artery stenosis greater than 70% (absolute risk reduction, 17.7%; P = .004). The benefit of surgery was apparent within 2 months after randomization, and only one stroke was noted in the surgical group beyond the 30-day perioperative period.Conclusions: For a selected cohort of men with symptoms of cerebral or retinal ischemia in the distribution of a high-grade internal carotid artery stenosis, carotid endarterectomy can effectively reduce the risk of subsequent ipsilateral cerebral ischemia. The risk of cerebral ischemia in this subgroup of patients is considerably higher than previously estimated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To evaluate therapy with aspirin plus dipyridamole in reducing restenosis after carotid endarterectomy.Patients: A total of 163 patients having 175 surgical carotid endarterectomies.Intervention: Eighty-three patients (90 endarterectomies) were randomly assigned to receive oral aspirin, 325 mg, plus dipyridamole, 75 mg, beginning 12 hours preoperatively, followed by a second dose administered within 8 hours after the operation, and given three times daily thereafter for 1 year. Eighty patients (85 endarterectomies) received placebo medication that was identical in appearance to the study drugs.Measurements: After the adequacy of the surgical procedure was confirmed by intraoperative angiography, restenosis at the endarterectomy sites was evaluated using serial duplex ultrasound studies before hospital discharge and at 3-month intervals postoperatively for 1 year.Results: Based on the time for developing identifiable restenosis and on efficacy analysis, greater than 50% restenosis developed in 11 operated vessels (16%) in the treated group and in 10 arteries (14%) in the placebo group, yielding an observed risk increase of 14% (95% CI, -52% to 167%; P greater than 0.2). By intention-to-treat analysis, greater than 50% restenosis developed in 16 of 90 operated vessels in treated patients and in 10 of 85 arteries in patients receiving placebo (26% for the treated group and 12% for the placebo group; P = 0.18, Mantel-Haenszel statistic), representing an observed risk increase of 110% (CI, -5% to 365%). Similar differences were observed for greater than 20% restenosis and for the comparison of patients rather than operated vessels by either intention-to-treat or efficacy analyses.Conclusions: Because therapy not only failed to reduce carotid restenosis but may have actually increased its frequency, treatment with aspirin plus dipyridamole probably has no clinically important benefit on restenosis in patients having carotid endarterectomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the author's views on the impact of carotid artery stenting (CAS) and carotid endarterectomy (CEA) on the patients with extracranial carotid stenosis. A study called Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy versus Stenting Trial (CREST) reveals that CAS and CEA do not cause dissimilar results for a composite of stroke, myocardial infarction, and death in patients with carotid stenosis at four years.