Predictors of Periprocedural Brain Lesions Associated with Carotid Stenting

Background: Carotid stenting carries a risk of periprocedural stroke. We aimed at determining predictors of cerebral ischemic events associated with stenting for symptomatic carotid stenosis. Methods: 127 patients who had been studied by diffusion-weighted MR imaging (DWI) before and on the day after carotid stenting were included. Six clinical variables and 5 variables characterizing the target carotid artery and aortic atherosclerosis were analyzed as potential risk factors for new ipsilateral DWI lesions after stenting. Results: Among all variables assessed, only age, length of stenosis and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) significantly modified the risk of new lesions after stenting. Age ≧68 years, stenosis ≧15 mm and IMT ≧1.3 mm were identified as the best thresholds to predict new lesions. In the subgroup of patients ≧68 years with carotid stenosis ≧15 mm in length and IMT ≧1.3 mm, the risk of new lesions was markedly higher than in patients to whom no more than two of these factors applied (odds ratio 7.250, 95% CI 1.612–34.513, p = 0.005). The use of this simple predictive model correctly identified patients who had new lesions after stenting with high specificity (0.96) and a negative predictive value (0.83), while the positive predictive value was moderate (0.60) and sensitivity was low (0.23). Conclusions: The risk of stenting for symptomatic carotid stenosis may vary with clinical and morphological patient characteristics. Further research is needed to validate these results and to evaluate the safety of stenting versus endarterectomy in specific patient subgroups.