title: [Effects of carotid endarterectomy on cognitive function in patients with carotid stenosis].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the theraputic effects of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) on cognitive function in patients with carotid stenosis (CAS) and congnitive impairment.
  
  
  METHODS
  CEA was performed on 38 patients with CAS from December 2011 to July 2013. There were 26 male and 12 female patients, with an average age of (70 ± 7) years. Patients was underwent neuropsychological examinations (NPEs) including Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) at 1 week before and 6 weeks after treatment. Cerebral perfusion was assessed with MR perfusion-weighted imaging and diffusion-weighted inmaging at 1 week before and 6 weeks after treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All of the 38 patients completed NPEs and MRI at baseline and 6 weeks after CEA. After therapy, the parameters and the extents of abnormal perfusion was improved, including the decrease of time to peak (29 ± 9 vs. 23 ± 4), relative mean transit time (22 ± 8 vs. 14 ± 6), arrive time (21 ± 8 vs. 15 ± 4) and relative cerebral blood volume (11.6 ± 3.5 vs. 7.5 ± 3.2) (t = 1.31 to 5.24, all P < 0.05). Significant improvement in MoCA (20.4 ± 1.5 vs. 22.0 ± 1.6, t = -4.25, P = 0.000) but MMSE (26.16 ± 1.35 vs. 26.47 ± 1.52, t = -0.96, P = 0.341) was observed. CEA significantly improved the assessment of visuospacial/constructive abilities (2.4 ± 0.9 vs. 2.8 ± 0.7), naming (2.0 ± 0.7 vs. 2.3 ± 0.6), abstraction (1.2 ± 0.7 vs. 1.6 ± 0.6) and attention (2.3 ± 0.6 vs. 2.6 ± 0.5) (t = 0.015 to 0.029, P = 0.015).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CEA can improve the cognitive function of patients with carotid stenosis as well as the cerebral perfusion of patients and has therapeutic effects on vascular mild cognitive impairment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, Drum Tower Clinical Medical College of Nanjing Medical University, the Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, Drum Tower Clinical Medical College of Nanjing Medical University, the Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, Drum Tower Clinical Medical College of Nanjing Medical University, the Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, China.
authors.forename: Dian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, Drum Tower Clinical Medical College of Nanjing Medical University, the Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular Surgery, Drum Tower Clinical Medical College of Nanjing Medical University, the Affiliated Drum Tower Hospital of Nanjing University Medical School, Nanjing 210008, China. Email: qiaotongmail@aliyun.com.
authors.forename: Tong
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Qiao
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000601:surgery*; D003071:Cognition; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction; D016894:Endarterectomy, Carotid; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies