Carotid artery dynamics after carotid angioplasty and stenting

Abstract

Carotid angioplasty and stenting (CAS) has emerged as an alternative treatment for carotid artery occlusive disease. As initial results in patients with an increased surgical risk appeared promising, the popularity of CAS has increased substantially over the last years and CAS has more often been advocated as an alternative to the gold standard, carotid endarterectomy (CEA). Several controlled trials comparing CAS with CEA are currently being conducted. However, long-term results of CAS are still sparse and several issues regarding the inherent differences between treatment modalities have not yet been elucidated. Interestingly, to date, very little attention has been directed towards the mobile features of the carotid artery and the implications of stent placement on carotid artery dynamics.