Carotid angioplasty and stenting shows promise in the treatment of carotid artery disease. Carotid angioplasty and stenting uses catheters to treat the narrowing of the carotid artery. During the procedure, a balloon attached to a catheter is inserted in the groin artery and threaded through the arteries to the narrowed carotid artery. A balloon at the end of the catheter is inflated to open the narrowed area, and a metal stent, which is a kind of wire mesh tube, is left in place to keep the artery from narrowing again. Patients are observed overnight in the hospital and usually discharged the following day.
Most patients are able to resume normal activities upon arriving home.
Balloon angioplasty and stenting of blockages of the heart, kidney and leg vessels has been used for decades. Not until recently has the technique been used to treat obstructions of the carotid arteries. The feared complication of the technique is that some of the atherosclerotic material causing the blockage could break off during balloon inflation, travel to vessels in the brain, and result in a stroke. Fortunately, the risk of stroke associated with balloon angioplasty and stenting has been shown to be less than what was anticipated. Such patients would include those with severe cardiac or respiratory disease, those who have had prior neck operations for tumors or who have undergone radiation therapy for neck tumors, and those who have had prior surgical carotid endarterectomies.