Continuous Blood Glucose Monitoring May Detect Carotid Occlusion Intolerance during Carotid Artery Stenting

The frequency of the occurrence of adverse events associated with carotid artery stenting (CAS) is usually low, but serious adverse events such as cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome (CHS) may occur. Real-time monitoring is ideal for the early detection of adverse events during the surgical procedure. This study aimed to evaluate continuous blood glucose (BG) monitoring for the detection of adverse events during CAS.

Forty patients undergoing scheduled CAS were prospectively enrolled. An artificial pancreas was used for continuous BG monitoring (once per minute), using venous blood extracted at a rate of 2 mL/hr during CAS. The primary endpoint was a correlation between BG change and adverse events.

CAS was discontinued in 1 patient, and BG was not measured in 5 patients (12.5%) because of the inability to extract blood. Among 34 evaluable patients, no patient developed CHS, but 3 patients (9%) experienced carotid occlusion intolerance. During CAS, BG was significantly higher in patients with carotid occlusion intolerance (median: 5 mg/dL) than in patients without carotid occlusion intolerance (median: 0 mg/dL) (P = 0.0221). A cutoff BG value ≥4 mg/dL during CAS showed 50% sensitivity and 100% specificity for the detection of carotid occlusion intolerance. There was no significant correlation between BG change and other adverse events.

BG elevation may help detect carotid occlusion intolerance although it is still unknown whether BG monitoring can detect CHS. Further studies should validate that a cutoff BG elevation value of ≥4 mg/dL during CAS indicates carotid occlusion intolerance.