"New" Procedure For Blocked Carotid?

[Foolmewunz]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35601282/ns/health-heart_health/


Did I miss something? The attached article makes this sound like it's not commonly used in North America. Any surgeons in the house?

I had a stent placed in my left carotid about seven months ago. It's a relatively common procedure over here. I did not, however, fit into the category that they mention in the article - too sick for surgery. I was only off work for a week! But, they wanted to do the stent because they thought it was a safer procedure since I had blockage in the arteries surrounding the heart, too. (Maybe that qualifies as "too sick", as this article is long on graphics and short on info.)

 

[fls]

"Too sick" includes the presence of coronary artery disease in this case.

It looks like this study simply gives a clearer picture of its use in a less selected population, so it is expected that it will be used on a broader population (rather than representing a novel use).

Linda

 

[Foolmewunz]

Thanks, Linda -

Yeah, my cardiologist mentioned that with the rather serious blockage of the heart arteries, they felt it was less risky to do the stent. But he'd been talking stent from early on, before we had confirmation of just how badly blocked the coronary arteries were.

It may be just my own impressions - I'll ask him when I see him in a couple of weeks for my regular checkup. I distinctly had the impression that stenting was much more commonly used over here.