Prolonged hypotension after carotid artery stenting: incidence, predictors and consequences

Hemodynamic changes frequently occur after carotid artery stenting (CAS), and in some patients these changes, particularly hypotension, may be prolonged. There are discrepant results for predicting patients at high risk for these prolonged hemodynamic changes and identifying the effect on clinical outcome. In this study, we aimed to determine the frequency, predictors and consequences associated with prolonged hypotension (PH) after CAS in our center.

We retrospectively analyzed the demographics, risk factors, nature of carotid disease, degree of stenosis of both internal carotid arteries, stent diameter and site of dilatation during stenting in 137 CAS procedures. After CAS, duration of hospital stay, complications during hospital stay and major vascular events or death in a 3-month period were evaluated. PH was defined as a systolic blood pressure <90 mmHg lasting more than 1 h despite adequate treatment after CAS.

PH occured in 23 (16.8%) patients. The presence of contralateral stenosis ≥70% and absence of diabetes mellitus were significantly associated with PH. Duration of hospital stay was significantly longer in patients with PH. No patients with PH had a periprocedural complication or major vascular events in the follow-up period.

PH was more prevalent in patients with contralateral high-degree carotid stenosis and patients without diabetes mellitus after CAS. PH did not cause any post-procedural complications or major vascular events at follow-up, but it resulted longer hospital stays. Further studies are needed to better define the pathophysiologic mechanisms underlying these hemodynamic alterations.