Percutaneous Treatment of Carotid Artery Stenoses with Stents: A Single Center Experience

Objectives The effectiveness of carotid artery stenting (CAS) for primary and secondary prevention of ischemic stroke has been demonstrated in many studies. In this study, we aimed to present the characteristics and post-procedural clinical outcomes of the patients admitted to our clinic with severe carotid artery disease and revascularized by carotid artery stenting (CAS) with distal embolic protection system. Methods This study was a single- center retrospective study. Between Jan 2015 and May 2017 patients undergoing CAS procedure were included in the study. Symptomatic cases with more than 50% stenosis and asymptomatic patients with more than 70% stenosis were included in the study. Results Twenty-five patients were included in the study. 68% of patients were male with a mean age of 69.3 ± 15.7 years. 92% of patients were symptomatic. In all patients, distal embolic protection devices and self-expandable carotid stents were used. All procedures were performed successfully. No mortality or myocardial infarction was observed in any of the patients in whom CAS was applied successfully. Five complications were seen related to the procedure. One patient had air embolism, one patient had transient ischemic attack, one patient had stroke, one patient had symptomatic nodal rhythm and the last patient had hyper-perfusion syndrome. Conclusion CAS is being successfully applied with acceptable complication rates in experienced centers.