Spontaneous history of asymptomatic internal carotid occlusion.

Forty-nine patients with ICA occlusion, who presented without any neurological signs or symptoms, were prospectively followed for an average of 31.2 months. Eight patients (16%) suffered a stroke during follow-up, of which five were within the vascular territory of the occluded artery--5 patients (10%) developed TIAs 4 of which were ipsilateral to the occluded artery. Non-invasive vascular follow-up did not reveal a progression of extracranial arterial disease in the majority of later symptomatic patients. Twenty-three patients (46.9%) died during follow-up, coexisting coronary artery disease being the major cause of death.