Prognostic Impact of Asymptomatic Carotid Stenosis in Patients Undergoing Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting
European Journal of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery
The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognostic impact of untreated asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis (CS) in patients undergoing isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). This was a post hoc analysis of data from a prospective multicentre observational study. A total of 2,813 patients, without history of stroke or transient ischaemic attack from the multicentre E-CABG registry who were screened for CS before isolated CABG were included.
The Authors observed that, among screened patients with untreated asymptomatic patients, CS ≥ 90% was an independent predictor of post-operative stroke. As this condition has a low prevalence and, when left untreated, is associated with a relatively low rate of stroke, pre-operative screening of asymptomatic carotid stenosis before CABG may not be justified.