Impact of nutritional assessment on long-term outcomes in patients with carotid artery stenting

Malnutrition is associated with poor clinical outcomes in many diseases. The Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT) is an objective index used for evaluating nutritional status of hospitalised patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between malnutrition assessed by CONUT score and the prognosis in patients undergoing carotid artery stenting (CAS).

The study included 170 patients who underwent CAS because of symptomatic or asymptomatic severe carotid artery stenosis. Median follow-up period was 50 (interquartile range [IQR], 41-60) months. Patients were divided into two groups according to the CONUT score as normal CONUT (score <2) and mild-severe CONUT (score ≥2). Primary endpoint was accepted as MACE (major adverse cardiac events) including all-cause death and ischaemic stroke. The prevalence of MACE was significantly higher in the mild-severe CONUT score group (P = .001). Kaplan Meier analysis showed lower survival rates in the mild-severe CONUT score group (log rank = 9.36, P = .002; Figure 5). The Cox regression analysis showed that, the CONUT score was associated with increased risk of MACE for both unadjusted model and age- and gender- adjusted model, while in a full adjusted model the best predictor was age.

Higher CONUT scores were associated with adverse outcomes in patients with CAS. Malnutrition assessed by the CONUT score is preferable with regards to the detection of MACE in patients with CAS. Larger studies are warranted to investigate if our preliminary findings translate into clinical outcomes in patients with CAS.