Objectives: There is limited understanding of the reasons underlying post-CEA carotid thrombosis. Clinicians have often implicated operative technique, such as patch type or shunting, however the evidence for this is limited. We have studied whether it is the patients themselves who are prothrombotic, by studying the rates of emboli detection in patients undergoing bilateral CEAs at separate time points.
Materials and methods: Sixteen patients (3 women) underwent CEA during the study period, all of whom were taking aspirin. CEA was performed in a standardised manner throughout the study. All patients were monitored for 3 h postoperatively using a 2 MHz fixed head probe.
Results: Those patients who had no emboli detected on TCD after the first operation, had a mean of 2.5 emboli after the second operation. Patients with emboli after the first operation had a mean of 41.3 emboli after the second CEA (MWU test, p=0.02). The dose of aspirin administered did not affect emboli rates. Correlation of the number of emboli detected after the first CEA with the second CEA gave a significant correlation ( p=0.038).
Conclusions: There appear to be factors relating to the patient that places some individuals at an increased risk of thrombotic stroke. Further elucidation of these factors may enable more effective, targeted therapy to be applied in the prevention of arterial thrombosis.
Copyright 2001 Harcourt Publishers Limited.