Importance of a arteriography for intraoperative quality control during carotid artery surgery

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of intraoperative quality control using arteriography on the conduct and immediate outcome of carotid artery surgery. This retrospective study included 623 carotid artery repair procedures performed between January 1993 and January 2000. There were 427 men and 159 women (37 bilateral procedures) with a mean age of 71.6 years. The repair technique consisted of conventional endarterectomy alone in 353 cases, conventional endarterectomy with patch closure in 95 cases, eversion in 44 cases, and vein (n = 105) or prosthetic (n = 26) grafting in 131 cases. Findings of intraoperative arteriography, which is used routinely in our department, were reviewed and analyzed in all cases. Our findings indicate that intraoperative quality control with arteriography is an important part of carotid artery surgery. In 11.7% of cases in this study, intraoperative arteriography revealed significant defects that are the main cause of postoperative neurological complications.