Hemodynamic Surveillance of Unilateral Carotid Artery Stenting in Patients With or Without Contralateral Carotid Occlusion by TCD/TCCD in the Early Stage Following Procedure

Objective: To evaluate the cerebral hemodynamic variations in patients with unilateral carotid artery stenosis and contralateral carotid occlusion (CCO) in hours following carotid artery stenting (CAS) by transcranial Doppler (TCD) or transcranial color-code Doppler (TCCD). Methods: Sixty-five consecutive patients who underwent unilateral CAS were enrolled. Among them, 14 patients had ipsilateral severe stenosis and CCO (CCO group) while the other 51 patients had only unilateral severe carotid stenosis without CCO (UCS group). All patients underwent TCD or TCCD monitoring before, at 1 and 3 h after CAS. We monitored bilateral middle cerebral artery (MCA) peak systolic velocity (PSV), pulsatility index (PI), and blood pressure (BP), and compared that data between two groups. Results: In UCS group, ipsilateral MCA PSV increased relative to baseline at 1 h (96 ± 30 vs. 85 ± 26 cm/s, 15%, P < 0.001) and 3 h (97 ± 29 vs. 85 ± 26 cm/s, 17%, P < 0.001) following CAS. Significant PI increases were observed at 1 and 3 h following CAS on the ipsilateral side. In CCO group, ipsilateral MCA PSV increased relative to baseline at 1 h (111 ± 30 vs. 83 ± 26 cm/s, 35%, P < 0.001) and 3 h (107 ± 28 vs. 83 ± 26 cm/s, 32%, P