Carotid stenosis predicts premature death:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
A follow-up of patients with carotid artery stenosis has found that they were nearly three times as likely to die during an average four-year study period than patients with no stenosis. Oddmund Joakimsen and colleagues from the University of Troms- in Norway used ultrasound to screen 248 subjects with carotid stenosis aged between 25 and 84, and 496 controls. Those with stenosis were 2.72 times more likely to die than those without, the researchers report in Stroke (August). After adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors the relative risk among patients with stenosis was 3.47, rising to 5.66 among those with stenosis but no cardiovascular disease or diabetes.