Mortality from combined carotid endarterectomy and coronary artery bypass surgery in the US

We determined hospital mortality and postoperative stroke rates after combined carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) vs CABG alone, using the US Nationwide Inpatient Sample. CEA-CABG combined was 1.06%. After correcting for comorbidities, the odds ratio for postoperative stroke or death for CEA-CABG was 1.38 (95% CI 1.27 to 1.50) vs CABG. With the increase in postoperative stroke and death, a randomized, controlled clinical trial of combined CEA-CABG is indicated.