To determine the safest method of treating simultaneously occurring coronary artery disease and asymptomatic carotid stenosis, patients were randomly assigned to either combined operation or a staged procedure with coronary artery surgery done first, followed by carotid endarterectomy. In the initial 70 patients, there were two strokes (5.9%) and two deaths (5.9%) in the combined group and four strokes (11%) and one death (2.8%) in the group with coronary artery surgery performed first.