Carotid endarterectomy for unilateral carotid system transient cerebral ischemia.

This study involved 151 consecutive patients who had transient focal cerebral ischemia (TIA) in one carotid arterial system and who had carotid endarterectomy on the side corresponding to the ischemic symptoms. Each patient was examined preoperatively by a neurologist, who also judged the postoperative morbidity and mortality. All patients were operated on by one surgeon. A major or minor ischemic stroke occurred in 3% of patients during operation or within 30 days thereafter. The mortality was less than 1% at 1 month. After the first month, ischemic stroke occurred at a rate of 2% per year, and two-thirds of the strokes were ipsilateral to the endarterectomy. Long-term mortality was 3% per year. Long-term stroke morbidity was less than would have been expected for a comparable group of patients with TIA, and the percentage of deaths due to a cardiac cause was greater than expected, owing to a relative shift from stroke mortality to cardiac mortality. No patient who had a cerebral blood flow of 40 ml or greater per 100 g of brain per minute during occlusion for endarterectomy had a stroke during operation or during 4 1/2 years of follow-up.