Endarterectomy for asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis

摘要

European and North American clinicians have always differed in their management of carotid artery disease. Carotid endarterectomy is one of the commonest vascular procedures in North America, with over 360 operations per million population being performed each year. Meanwhile, despite the fact that the first carotid reconstruction was performed in Britain, selection for the procedure in Europe has been sporadic. British data for 1993-4 confirm that fewer than 40 carotid endarterectomies are performed per million population per year (personal communications from Department of Health, England; NHS Information and Statistics Division, Scotland; and Department of Health and Social Services, Northern Ireland, 1995).