Is ultrasound examination sufficient in the evaluation of patients with internal carotid artery severe stenosis or occlusion?
Carotid endarterectomy (CE) has been shown to be beneficial in patients with symptomatic high-grade internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis. Some authors have suggested that when ultrasound shows a stenosis 70-99%, CE can be performed without further imaging study. However, ultrasound findings that suggest an ICA occlusion, not confirmed by angiography but which instead show a near-occlusion usually benefit from CE. The objectives of this study are: (1). to evaluate how angiography-obtained information on intracranial arteries affects the treatment decision in patients with 70-99% ICA stenosis, and (2). to evaluate when a symptomatic ICA occlusion shown by ultrasound could actually be a patent artery and therefore benefit from CE.
