Carotid endarterectomy in the elderly.

The records of 146 patients 80 years of age or older who underwent 183 carotid endarterectomy operations from 1964 through 1990 were reviewed to determine surgical risk. The indications for operation were asymptomatic patients with carotid stenosis (n = 36); ipsilateral transient ischemic attacks (n = 46); ipsilateral stroke (n = 28); ipsilateral retinal embolus (n = 15); nonlateralizing symptoms (n = 40); and asymptomatic side in patients with contralateral symptoms (n = 18). Postoperatively, three patients (1.6% of operations) had a stroke with a residual deficit and three (1.6%) died. All deaths were from myocardial infarction. For comparison, during the same time period, the combined stroke with residual deficit and death rate for patients less than 80 operated upon for similar indications was 3.5%. Since 80-year-old patients have a life expectancy of at least five years, the authors conclude that elderly patients should be evaluated for carotid endarterectomy using criteria similar to that used for younger patients.