Carotid endarterectomy for atherosclerotic occlusion of the contralateral internal carotid artery

Aim. To analyse perioperative and long-term results of carotid endarterectomy for occlusion or stenosis of the contralateral internal carotid artery. Methods. This study included 184 patients who underwent carotid endarterectomy for either occlusion (group 1, n = 74) or stenosis (group 2, n = 110) of the contralateral internal carotid artery. Carotid endarterectomy with eversion was performed in 97% of the patients while the conventional procedure with a patch was used in the remaining 3%. Results. The incidence of perioperative stroke / transient ischemic attack (TIA) in groups 1 and 2 was 1.35% and 1.82%, respectively (p = 0.806). Stroke / TIA within 30 days after surgery occurred in 2 patients in group 1 and in 1 patient in group 2 (p = 0.346); however, none were associated with death. In contrast, 3 cases of myocardial infarction (MI) were seen in group 1, two of which resulted in death. No instances of MI were seen in group 2. Long-term freedom from stroke and myocardial infarction, estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, was not significantly different between the groups (p = 0.240 and p = 0.657, respectively). Long-term survival was similar in both groups (p = 0.281). An analysis of the risk factors for major cardiovascular events, both immediate and in the long-term, showed that plaque instability was the most significant (p = 0.004), followed by lesions in the arteries of the lower extremities (p = 0.002). Conclusion. Short-term and long-term cerebral complications were not significantly different between patients with occlusion or stenosis of the contralateral internal carotid artery. However, patients with occlusion were significantly more likely to experience MI, necessitating a detailed diagnosis of coronary artery disease. Instability of the atherosclerotic substrate and multifocal atherosclerosis were identified as independent risk factors for major cardiovascular events.