National trends in carotid endarterectomy and stenting in Korea from 2004 to 2013.

Stroke imposes a substantial clinical and socioeconomic burden. Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) or carotid artery stenting (CAS) are proven procedures in stroke prevention for the lesions of extracranial carotid disease. Although several studies have addressed national trends regarding carotid revascularization in Western countries, limited data is available with respect to the Korean population. The aim of the present study was to identify the national trend in carotid revascularization in Korea over the previous decade. A serial, cross-sectional study was conducted with the use of time trends to analyze patients undergoing carotid revascularization using CEA and CAS between 2004 and 2013. Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service data was used. The present study endeavored to analyze trends in the number of CEA and CAS procedures for the treatment of extracranial carotid disease in Medicare beneficiaries. A linear-by-linear association was performed to determine the changes of carotid revascularization for the aforementioned period. A total of 23,142 patients received carotid revascularization between 2004 and 2013. CEA was performed in 4,012 and CAS in 19,130 patients. The rate of total carotid revascularization per 1,000,000 Medicare beneficiaries substantially increased during the study period from 22 procedures in 2004 to 57 in 2013 (risk ratio (RR), 2.59; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.58-4.24; P=0.001). CAS increased from 18 procedures in 2004, to 45 in 2013 (RR, 2.50; 95% CI; 1.45-4.32; P=0.001). In addition, the number of CEA procedures performed per 1,000,000 Medicare beneficiaries increased from four procedures in 2004, to 11 in 2013 (RR, 2.75; 95% CI, 0.88-8.64; P=0.08). In conclusion, total carotid revascularization increased by 255% during the previous 10 years in Korea. This increase predominantly resulted from the 249% increase of CAS. The number and population-based rates of carotid revascularization remained low, as compared with Western countries.