Carotid stenting

Stroke continues to be a major public health concern with more than 750,000 strokes occurring per year in the United States, making it the third most common cause of death and the leading neurologic cause of long-term disability.1 The resultant economic burden on health-care systems is significant and only likely to grow as life expectancy increases and the elderly population continues to expand.2 The majority of strokes are ischemic in nature, and up to one-third of ischemic strokes are a result of carotid artery atherosclerotic occlusive disease. The treatment of carotid artery stenosis is aimed at the prevention of ischemic events caused by embolization of components of the atherosclerotic plaque and less commonly by hemodynamic compromise secondary to progression to occlusion of a previously stenotic but patent internal carotid artery.