Strokes are responsible for major disability among its survivors, adding immense cost not only in terms of health care, but also in terms of the quality of life. The carotid endarterectomy to prevent strokes is commonly performed in Western
countries.
But in Asian countries, carotid endarterectomy is not commonly performed even on the symptomatic carotid stenosis patients. 26 male and five female patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy due to extracranial carotid stenosis from January 1995
through
January 1996 were reviewed. The mean age was 67.2±6.6 years. 14 cases(45.2%) operated on right side and 17 cases(54.8%) operated on left side. The mean carotid stenosis according to luminal diameter reduction was 81.3±11.1%. Symptomatic cases,
including transient ischemic attack, were 26 cases(83.9%) and five were asymptom tic cases(16.1%). Only two cases did not use carotid shunt during carotid clamping. Eight cases(25.8%) showed abnormal intraoperative EEG pattern in the carotid
shuntng
group. The average operation time was 173±36 minutes. The perioperative mortality was zero. Two postoperatively patients suffered from transient ischemic attack. One patients developed myocardial infarction. Vocal cord palsy developed in three
patients. With the Westernization of Korean life style, the incidence of atherosclerosis disease has been on the rise. In this study, we report the experiences of 31 cases of carotid endarterectomy in our institute.
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