title: [Endovascular treatment of carotid stenosis: an experience in the Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Carotid stenosis accounts for about 25% of all ischaemic cerebrovascular events. Carotid angioplasty and stenting (CAS) is a minimally invasive procedure used as an alternative to carotid endarterectomy, especially in high surgical risk patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To analyse the effectiveness and safety of the endovascular treatment of carotid stenosis in the Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study consisted in a retrospective analysis of the carotid stenoses treated by means of CAS between February 2005 and April 2010, and the following information was recorded: demographic data, clinical diagnosis, indication of treatment, time between the onset of symptoms and beginning of treatment, angiographic findings, complications and long-term follow-up (including the rate of restenosis).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Altogether 121 patients were treated (77.8% males and 22.2% females), with a mean age of 70.8 ± 10.7 years. The main vascular risk factors were arterial hypertension (65.3%), smoking (61.2%) and dyslipidaemia (42.1%). In 86% of cases the stenoses were symptomatic and in the remaining 14% they were asymptomatic. In 60.3% of cases they were stenoses > 70%, in 30.6% they were preocclusive stenoses and in 9.1% they were recanalisations of unstable carotid occlusions. The mean treatment time was 17.0 ± 8.3 days after the ischaemic event. The residual stenosis was less than 30% in all cases. The morbidity and mortality rate at 30 days was 4.1% and the rate of restenosis throughout a mean follow-up of 31.2 ± 10.8 months was 2.4%.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In our hospital CAS is considered an effective and safe technique, with a rate of complications that is within the parameters that justify its indication.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Oviedo, Asturias, España. rgarrod05@yahoo.es
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: García-Rodríguez
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Vega-Valdés
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Calleja-Puerta
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gil-García
authors.forename: Montserrat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: González-Delgado
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Murias-Quintana
authors.forename: Lorena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Benavente-Fernández
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hernández-Lahoz
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017130:Angioplasty / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013030:Spain; D015607:Stents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016896:Treatment Outcome