Carotid controversy: Medication alone may not eliminate stroke risk
Recent advances in statins and other medications have led some researchers to suggest that surgical treatments for carotid stenosis should be limited to symptomatic patients – primarily those who have already had a stroke or TIA. However, a new study published in the Journal of Vascular Surgery questions whether medical therapy is a sufficient stroke-reduction strategy. In the study, only 35 percent of stroke patients were receiving both statin and antiplatelet agents prior to their event, suggesting that asymptomatic carotid disease is unrecognized in many individuals, noted lead researcher Dr. W. Darrin Clouse of Massachusetts General Hospital. “And the first manifestation of their disease,” he wrote, “could be the occurrence of a stroke.”