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Outcome of carotid artery resection for neoplastic disease: a meta-analysis
1Department of Otolaryngology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Eye & Ear Institute of Pittsburgh, PA 15213.
Purpose:
To determine the neurologic morbidity and oncologic effectiveness of carotid resection in patients with advanced squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.
Methods:
A retrospective review of all published cases of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck treated by carotid resection was performed.
Results:
A major neurologic complication occurred in 17% of patients. Neurologic morbidity was not associated with the method of carotid artery reconstruction. Two-year disease-free survival was 22%. The majority of recurrences were local or regional. Comparison of survival of this group to a similarly staged control group demonstrated no significant difference in survival.
Conclusion:
This review of the literature suggests that elective carotid resection achieves significant local/regional control of disease and that carotid artery involvement is not a poor prognostic factor in patients with advanced head and neck cancer.