title: "Thirty-day neurologic improvement associated with early versus delayed carotid endarterectomy in symptomatic patients".
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Neurologic outcome after early or delayed carotid endarterectomy (CEA) has yet to be fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to determine 30-day neurologic improvement with respect to the timing of CEA in symptomatic patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Single-institution review of consecutive patients who underwent CEA for symptomatic carotid stenosis ≥60% in the period between January 2009 and November 2013. Patients recruited had acute neurologic impairment on presentation, defined as <5 points on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). Patients were grouped according to time between the qualifying event and surgery (0-14 days, early CEA and 15-30 days, delayed CEA). Thirty-day neurologic status improvement was defined as a decrease (≥1) in the 30-day NIHSS score versus NIHSS score immediately before surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were 100 and 222 patients in the early and delayed CEA groups, respectively. The type of qualifying symptoms (stroke versus transient ischemic attack rate) was similar and there were no significant differences in 30-day adverse outcome rates between the 2 cohorts. There were no deaths, 4 strokes (1.2%, 3 vs. 1; P = 0.091), and 4 myocardial infarcts (1.2%, 0 vs. 4; P = 0.315). Thirty-day improvement in neurologic status was associated with early CEA, very early CEA (48 hours), and NIHSS >2 before surgery, with an odds ratio of 4.9 (confidence interval [CI], 0.9-25.7; P = 0.03), 12.9 (CI, 1.4-115.7; P = 0.02), and 2.6 (CI, 1.7-4.1; P < 0.001), respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest that reducing the time to intervention in selected (NIHSS <5) symptomatic patients is safe and associated with improved neurologic status.
authors.affiliation: Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Unit, Department of Surgery, "San Giovanni di Dio" Hospital, Florence, Italy. Electronic address: e.chisci@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Emiliano
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chisci
authors.affiliation: Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Unit, Department of Surgery, "San Giovanni di Dio" Hospital, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Clara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pigozzi
authors.affiliation: Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Unit, Department of Surgery, "San Giovanni di Dio" Hospital, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Troisi
authors.affiliation: Neurological Unit, Department of Medicine, "San Giovanni di Dio" Hospital, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Luciana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tramacere
authors.affiliation: Neurological Unit, Department of Medicine, "San Giovanni di Dio" Hospital, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zaccara
authors.affiliation: Neurological Unit, Department of Medicine, "San Giovanni di Dio" Hospital, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cincotta
authors.affiliation: Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Unit, Department of Surgery, "San Giovanni di Dio" Hospital, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ercolini
authors.affiliation: Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Unit, Department of Surgery, "San Giovanni di Dio" Hospital, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Michelagnoli
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D016894:Endarterectomy, Carotid / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D002546:Ischemic Attack, Transient / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D016017:Odds Ratio; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020521:Stroke / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013997:Time Factors; D061665:Time-to-Treatment; D016896:Treatment Outcome