Safety of Carotid Artery Stenting in Elderly Patients by Treatment Selection Based on Plaque Characteristics

Previous studies clarified that carotid endarterectomy has better outcomes in the elderly patients than carotid artery stenting. However, these studies did not evaluate the plaque characteristics of stenotic lesions. Therefore, we conducted a retrospective study to examine the safety and efficacy of carotid artery stenting with plaque evaluation in elderly patients. Overall, the data of 61 cases of 60 patients who underwent carotid artery stenting or carotid endarterectomy from October 2012 to December 2019 were included. The following data were compared between the carotid endarterectomy and carotid artery stenting cases: plaque characteristics on carotid magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), patient background characteristics, perioperative complications, prognosis, and presence of restenosis in patients aged > 70 years. Twenty-five patients aged > 70 years underwent carotid artery stenting, whereas 18 patients aged > 70 years underwent carotid endarterectomy. Carotid endarterectomy cases tended to have more unstable plaques characterized by high-intensity signals on carotid T1-weighted MRI images (carotid endarterectomy 12 cases (67%), carotid artery stenting 4 cases (16%); P : 0.0006). Perioperative complication occurred in two carotid artery stenting cases and one carotid endarterectomy case (carotid artery stenting 8%, CEA 5.6%; P : 0.75). The data of stroke, 30-day morbidity, modified Rankin Scale score after 90 days, and mortality showed no significant differences. Restenosis after intervention occurred in three carotid artery stenting cases and one carotid endarterectomy case. Carotid artery stenting can be safely performed even in elderly patients by selecting appropriate treatment based on plaque characteristics.