Carotid Artery Disease: Multivariate Analysis of a Single Center in Mexico City

Introduction. Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States and the leading cause of disability. Of these, carotid artery disease is responsible for up to 15% to 30% of strokes. The objetive is knowing the risk factors and their impact on four possible scenarios in the diagnosis and treatment of carotid artery disease. 1: significant stenosis measured by ultrasound Doppler carotid, 2: significant stenosis measured by diagnostic cerebral angiography, 3: plaque ulceration measured by angiography, and 4: carotid stent placement. Material and Methods. A retrospective study was carried out with 29 patients, 12 patients to whom was placed a carotid stent and 17 control patients, Odds ratio was calculated for risk factors: high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, smoking and dyslipidemia. And then multivariate analysis was performed with the same variables. Results. For the risk factors with statistical significance for carotid ulcer were dyslipidemia and cancer, and for stent placement, smoking, and clinically presented as a transient ischemic attack. For the multivariate analysis, the only factor associated with stent placement was smoking. Conclusions. Of the entire range of risk factors associated with cerebrovascular disease, tobacco use is the factor most strongly associated with a patient with carotid disease ending up in endovascular treatment. So prevention or lifestyle modification is the best tool to avoid these outcomes.