A new study finds that a nearly one-third of patients undergoing carotid artery stenting died after two years, which was a much higher death rate than expected.
Carotid artery stenting is a procedure in which a stent is inserted in the carotid artery, a major blood vessel located on each side of the neck. Also known as carotid angioplasty, the procedure is performed to open the artery and increase blood flow to the brain and prevent stroke.
Duke University researchers reviewed the Medicare records of 22,516 patients at least 66 and older and found an overall death rate of 32 percent after two years. They found that the highest death rate – 42 percent – was in patients who were at least 80 years old and were symptomatic at the time of the procedure.
The causes of death were not broken down, but about 85 percent of the patients had ischemic heart disease, about a quarter had heart failure, and one in five had cancer, the analysis in JAMA Neurology said.
Previous studies found the death rate for the procedure was 11 to 20 percent.
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