Carotid artery stenting is recommended for stroke prevention in selected symptomatic patients with ≥50% to ≤99% stenosis and asymptomatic patients with ≥70% to ≤99% stenosis.
Does carotid artery stenting prevent stroke in selected patients with significant carotid stenosis?
The review advocates for updated CMS coverage to approve carotid artery stenting in appropriately selected symptomatic and asymptomatic patients with significant carotid stenosis.
Significant advances in the field of carotid artery stenting (CAS) have occurred, including new randomized trial data, recent professional societal statements for competency, new techniques and new devices that have been developed, and perhaps most importantly, our understanding of how to better select candidates for CAS to avoid periprocedural complications. The current Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services coverage decision regarding CAS is outdated, and our review supports our recommendation to approve CAS in selected candidates who are symptomatic with a carotid stenosis ≥50% and ≤99% and for asymptomatic patients with carotid stenosis ≥70% and ≤99% for stroke prevention. Optimized CAS strategies have allowed experienced operators to better assess procedure risk before CAS and have led to continued improvement in CAS outcomes. New technologies including enhanced embolic protection devices and dual-layered stents should result in further improvement.
White et al. (Fri,) conducted a review in Carotid stenosis. Carotid artery stenting was evaluated. Carotid artery stenting is recommended for stroke prevention in selected symptomatic patients with ≥50% to ≤99% stenosis and asymptomatic patients with ≥70% to ≤99% stenosis.
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