title: Incidence of abnormal EEG findings in patients with obstructions of the carotid artery and their prognostic value for the postoperative long-term course.
abstract: Between 1972 and 1980, a total of 706 patients were operated on at the Surgical Department of the University Hospital at Erlangen for chronic arteriosclerotic lesions, or kinking or coiling of the carotid artery; an evaluable preoperative EEG was recorded in 515 patients. Patients with an abnormal EEG revealed an increased early mortality rate, and a greater incidence of strokes in the long term. In patients with "controversial' indications for surgery, i.e., patients with asymptomatic carotid bruit, chronic cerebral ischemia, or nonhemispheric attacks, a low-grade increase in early mortality, the incidence of deaths, and the incidence of strokes in the long term, were established. Although an abnormal EEG cannot, by and large, be considered an absolute contraindication to surgery, it should, nevertheless, be a reason for carrying out a thorough internistic examination of the patient and for critically considering the surgical indications.
mesh_terms: D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis