Anticipated Clinical Course in Carotid Artery Occlusion

This presentation is a study of 153 patients with complete carotid artery occlusion proved by angiography. We have made an effort to evaluate their clinical course from onset of symptoms through a 4-year follow-up, hoping to shed light on the future of people afflicted with this disease. The great variation in the clinical picture made it difficult to classify the types of cases. Two overlapping categories were finally accepted. First, the patients were grouped as to type of onset of symptoms. This group included those patients having sudden, episodic, or progressive types of onset, as well as those having only minor or associated symptoms. After the patients were arranged in these categories, it was found necessary to provide a dynamic classification to follow the natural history of the disorder. Within the categories mentioned, the patients were graded according to condition at the time of onset of symptoms, later when hospitalized,