Endoluminal repair of carotid artery pseudoaneurysms: a word of caution.

This report describes our results with covered endoluminal stents in the management of 4 patients with carotid artery pseudoaneurysms (PSAs) following carotid endarterectomy (CEA). Two patients had symptomatic embolization of thrombus from the PSA's into branches of the middle cerebral arteries (MCA) during deployment of the stents. Endoluminal stents were deployed uneventfully in the other two. At 12 month follow-up, one patient had an occlusion of the stent. While endoluminal therapy of carotid PSAs in an effective method to exclude PSAs, embolization of thrombus is a potential hazard. The long-term patency of covered stents in the carotid artery is unknown.