Carotid endarterectomy was performed with lower stroke and death rates than carotid artery stenting in the United States in 2003 and 2004.

OBJECTIVE: Although carotid endarterectomy (CEA) is the gold standard for the treatment of carotid artery stenosis, the recent United States Food and Drug Administration approval of carotid artery stenting (CAS) may have led to its widespread use outside of clinical trials and registries. This study compared in-hospital postoperative stroke and mortality rates after CAS and CEA at the national level.

METHODS: The Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) was queried to identify all patient-discharges that occurred for revascularization of carotid artery stenosis. The International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification procedure codes for CEA (38.12), CAS (00.63), and insertion of noncoronary stents (39.50, 39.90) were used in conjunction with the diagnostic codes for carotid artery stenosis, with (433.11) and without (433.10) stroke. Primary outcome measures included in-hospital postoperative stroke and death rates. Multivariate logistic regressions were performed to evaluate independent predictors of postoperative stroke and mortality. Adjustment was made for age, sex, medical comorbidities, admission diagnosis, procedure type, year, and hospital type.

RESULTS: During the calendar years 2003 and 2004, an estimated 259,080 carotid revascularization procedures were performed in the United States. CAS had a higher rate of in-hospital postoperative stroke (2.1% vs 0.88%, P < .0001) and higher postoperative mortality (1.3% vs 0.39%) than CEA. For asymptomatic patients (92%), the postoperative stroke rate was significantly higher for CAS than CEA (1.8% vs 0.86%, P < .0001), but the mortality rate was similar (0.44% vs 0.36%, P = .36). For symptomatic patients (8%), the rates for postoperative stroke (4.2% vs 1.1%, P < .0001) and mortality (7.5% vs 1.0%, P < .0001) were significantly higher after CAS. By multivariate regression, CAS was independently predictive of postoperative stroke (odds ratio [OR], 2.49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.91 to 3.25). CAS was also associated with in-hospital postoperative mortality for asymptomatic (OR, 2.37; 95% CI, 1.46 to 3.84) and symptomatic (OR, 2.64; 95% CI, 1.89 to 3.69) patients.

CONCLUSIONS: As determined from a large representative national sample including the years 2003 and 2004, the in-hospital stroke rate after CAS for asymptomatic patients was twofold higher than after CEA. For symptomatic patients, the respective in-hospital stroke and mortality rates were fourfold and sevenfold higher. These unexpected results indicate that further randomized controlled trials with homogenous symptomatic and asymptomatic patient groups should be performed.