title: Carotid endarterectomy or carotid artery stenting? Matching the patient to the intervention.
abstract: Extracranial carotid disease accounts for approximately 25% of ischemic strokes. Although carotid endarterectomy (CEA) is the established gold standard for carotid revascularization, carotid artery angioplasty and stenting (CAS) is continually developing into a safer and more efficacious method of stroke prevention and has gained popularity as an alternative to CEA. Recent trials have reported clinical equipoise between CEA and CAS. There are certain patient characteristics that can increase the risk of adverse outcomes for both CEA and CAS. Proper patient selection is the key to successful outcomes when deciding the optimal treatment for carotid stenosis. Patients must be individualized, and a specific risk-benefit ratio must be formulated for CEA, CAS, and best-medical therapy (BMT). Ultimately, optimizing medical therapy and using CEA and CAS as complementary therapies rather than competing ones will likely achieve the best patient outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Emory University School of Medicine Atlanta, GA, USA. joseph.ricotta@emoryhealthcare.org
authors.forename: Joseph J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Ricotta
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piazza
mesh_terms: D017130:Angioplasty / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation*; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D016894:Endarterectomy, Carotid / Q000009:adverse effects; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006801:Humans; D018579:Patient Selection; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D015607:Stents; D020521:Stroke / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D016896:Treatment Outcome