Gender and Outcomes of Carotid Artery Interventions

The benefits of carotid artery revascularization in women have been debated since the publication of large randomized clinical trials comparing carotid endarterectomy (CEA) to medical therapy. Institutional series have historically had an underrepresentation of women and/or have lacked power for adequate analysis. Recent evidence from large databases reveals possible gender-based differences in outcomes of carotid artery stenting versus CEA. In this review, we evaluated clinical articles from 1991 to 2012, using Pubmed and Web of Science, which addressed gender and outcomes of carotid artery revascularization procedures. Our goal was to determine whether gender is associated with adverse outcomes following carotid artery interventions in patients with carotid artery disease.