Predicting Major Adverse Carotid Cerebrovascular Events in Patients with Carotid Stenosis: Integrating a Panel of Plasma Protein Biomarkers and Clinical Features—A Pilot Study

Background: Carotid stenosis (CS) is an atherosclerotic disease of the carotid artery that can lead to devastating cardiovascular outcomes such as stroke, disability, and death. The currently available treatment for CS is medical management through risk reduction, including control of hypertension, diabetes, and/or hypercholesterolemia. Surgical interventions are currently suggested for patients with symptomatic disease with stenosis >50%, where patients have suffered from a carotid-related event such as a cerebrovascular accident, or asymptomatic disease with stenosis >60% if the long-term risk of death is 0.8 and an accuracy of 0.88, demonstrating strong prognostic capability. Conclusions: Our SVM model may be used for risk stratification of patients with CS to determine those who may benefit from surgical intervention.