Neuropsychological consequences of endarterectomy and endovascular angioplasty with stent placement for treatment of symptomatic carotid stenosis: a prospective randomised study

Background and purpose: Previous studies compared carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and carotid artery stent placement (CAS) for treatment of symptomatic carotid artery stenosis. Whereas both treatment modalities are associated with a comparable risk of periprocedural cerebrovascular complications, CAS seems to lead to significantly more microemboli and more lesions in diffusion-weighted MR imaging. The clinical relevance of these differences remains unknown. We therefore compared the neuropsychological consequences of CAS and CEA and additionally measured the S100ß protein, a marker of cerebral damage. Methods: 48 p…