Carotid stenosis

Symptomatic carotid stenosis
See detailed discussion of this topic here.

Asymptomatic carotid stenosis
See detailed discussion of this topic here.

Carotid endarterectomy
Carotid endarterectomy may be reasonable in asymptomatic carotid stenosis of ≥60%, provided that the surgeon has a complication rate of less than 3%, in which case the NNT is ~33. Surgery on asymptomatic carotid stenosis is probably not useful in women, and should be used with caution in the elderly. Moreover, all data is compared with antiquated medical management. We may find that carotid intervention is of no benefit in these patients, as medical management has improvement significantly since the 1990s-2000s.