Myocardial infarction following carotid endarterectomy: a review of 683 operations.

In a series of 683 consecutive carotid endarterectomies, there were 16 postoperative myocardial infarctions which resulted in five deaths. Of 399 operations on patients with no previous history of heart disease, there were only two myocardial infarctions (0.5%). Two hundred and eighty-four operations were performed on patients with heart disease, and vasopressors were administered in 135 of these procedures. For these patients the risk of myocardial infarction increased from 2.0% to 8.1% with the use of vasopressors (P less than 0.001). The management of the patient with stable heart disease undergoing carotid endarterectomy is discussed.