Prevalence and Clinical Consequences of Carotid Artery Residual Defects Following Endarterectomy: A Prospective CT Angiography Evaluation Study

ObjectivesIt is still unclear whether residual defects seen after carotid endarterectomy (CEA) have clinical consequences. We investigated prevalence of residual defects in the carotid artery and their possible impact on clinical and Duplex ultrasound (DUS) follow-up.Materials and methodsSixty-five patients who had undergone CEA were prospectively examined with 1–3 month postoperative computed tomographic angiography (CTA), clinical and DUS follow-up. Defects in common (CCA), external (ECA) and internal carotid artery (ICA) were scored as clamp marks, intimal step or flap, mural thrombus, kink, microdehiscence suture or residual stenosis.ResultsFifty-eight patients (89.2%) had residual defects in CCA, ECA or ICA (143 defects). Intimal steps (n = 39) and residual stenosis (n = 17) were most noted defects. Only residual defects in ECA were significantly associated with significant higher PSV values both at short-term and long-term follow-up (1990 vs. 1400 mm s−1 at 1 year and 2000 vs. 1230 mm s−1 at 2 years, P-values 0.031 and 0.016).ConclusionCarotid artery residual defects on CTA after CEA are very common, simple fingerprints of the operative procedure, have no clear consequence. When CTA is performed clinically after CEA, knowledge of high prevalence and type of defects detected on CTA may be of importance for radiologists and clinicians.