Stroke Risk with Moderate Restenosis After Carotid Artery Stenting or Endarterectomy

Although the long-term benefits of carotid artery stenting or endarterectomy for symptomatic carotid stenosis are readily apparent, the risk for developing restenosis after each procedure and, more importantly, the stroke risk caused by such restenosis, is unclear, especially with moderate (≥50%) restenosis.

Investigators from the partially industry-funded International Carotid Stenting Study recently addressed these issues in a secondary analysis of data from their large randomized trial. The primary analysis had shown that stenting and endarterectomy were equally effective for preventing fatal or disabling stroke up to 10 years after randomization, with no difference in the long-term risk for severe restenosis (≥70%) or stroke with each pr…