[Carotid surgery, indications, results and perspectives]

A series of 215 patients who had undergone 250 carotid artery operations were followed up for a mean of 30 months. Perioperative mortality was 2%, neurologic morbidity was 7% but with permanent sequelae in 1.39% of cases. Recurrence of stenosis was detected in 0.8% of patients but there were no cases of postoperative thrombosis. Indications for surgery were based on the existence of hemispheric ischemic accidents corresponding to the territory supplied by the artery operated upon, and on anatomic and evolutive arguments drawn from results of non-invasive review examinations: ultrasonography and Doppler. Results obtained: 81.9% of patients were asymptomatic after 30 months, appear to be superior to those of the natural history of carotid artery lesions.