New study data suggest that the interventional treatment of symptomatic carotid artery disease may result in an improved rate of age-adjusted overall survival compared to medical management. However, the same study—presented at this year’s European Society for Vascular Surgery (ESVS) annual meeting (Sept. 24–27) in Kraków, Poland—also indicates a relatively low future ipsilateral stroke risk among patients who were not offered carotid intervention, highlighting medical management’s importance as a standalone strategy in patients deemed to be ‘high risk’ if treated via intervention.
Findings from the study in question were delivered by Eric T.A. Lim, MBChB, from the Department of Vascular & Endovascular Surgery at Waikato Hospital, Hamilton, New Zealand, on behalf of Manar Khashram, MBChB, from the same institution, and other investigators, in an abstract presentation at ESVS 2024.
Lim et al‘s prospective, observational study—undertaken in a single vascular tertiary referral center in New Zealand—aimed to assess the outcomes of symptomatic carotid artery stenosis cases that were managed non-operatively. The study was carried out from June 2019 to January 2024.
According to the investigators, patients who underwent carotid intervention had a 0.25 (0.17–0.5) hazard ratio of survival compared to patients managed conservatively—when adjusted for age. The overall survival rates at one and four years were 88% and 57%, respectively, and corresponding ipsilateral stroke-free survival rates at both one and four years were 97% in the medically managed patient group.
