Cerebral perfusion patterns in patients with extracranial carotid atherosclerosis and the impact of carotid stenting. A review.

Patients with extracranial carotid atherosclerosis, either symptomatic or asymptomatic, demonstrate altered cerebral perfusion. Carotid revascularization procedures, such as carotid endarterectomy or stenting, aim mainly at stroke prevention from thromboembolic events, whereas their effects on cerebral perfusion, particularly those seen after carotid stenting, have not been extensively examined. Moreover, ischemia and reperfusion injury have been recognized as devastating complications of these procedures. The present work is a literature review of cerebral perfusion patterns in normal individuals and in patients with carotid artery stenosis prior to and after carotid stenting.