Real-World Data on the Safety of Carotid Artery Stenting

Trials show that carotid artery stenting (CAS) is noninferior to carotid endarterectomy in patients with carotid artery stenosis. However, real-world data on adverse procedural events and death have been lacking due to reimbursement restrictions in the U.S. These researchers retrospectively reviewed Japanese registry data on nearly 10,000 patients with carotid artery stenosis who underwent CAS by neuroendovascular specialists between 2015 and 2019 (mean age, 74; 14% women). The researchers compared outcomes between patients with symptomatic or asymptomatic stenosis (55% and 45% of the cohort, respectively).

Embolic protection devices were used in 99% of patients. On the primary outcome of a composite of ischemic stroke and all-cause death wi…