Acute carotid occlusion. Indication for surgery?

Six patients with acute carotid occlusion causing severe neurological deficits were operated within one to two hours after the first signs of deterioration. In one case the occlusion followed carotid arteriography and in five cases extra-cranial carotid surgery. It was possible to restore the blood flow in all six patients. In three patients the neurological deficits disappeared and in three patients they were unchanged. These cases and others reported in literature indicate that if an acute carotid occlusion is operated within one to two hours it will be possible in many cases to restore cerebral blood flow before the brain has suffered irreversible damage.