Carotid Disease: Medical, Surgical, and Endovascular Treatment

In the last few years surgical treatment of carotid artery stenosis to prevent strokes has been challenged due to improved medical treatment and widespread performance of balloon angioplasty and stenting. We asked four experts from varying specialties to address this critical issue. William Baker, M.D. is Chief of Vascular Surgery at Loyola and will provide an overview of surgical treatment of carotid artery disease. Barry Katzen, M.D. is a radiologist and Chief of the Miami Vascular Institute and will discuss appropriate candidates for and results of carotid balloon angioplasty and stenting. Irene Meissner, M.D. from the Mayo Clinic will provide her opinion when carotid intervention is indicated from a neurologist's viewpoint and also discuss newer anti-platelet agents used to prevent stroke. Christopher Zarins, M.D. is Chief of Vascular Surgery at Stanford University and will discuss the high-risk surgical patient and re-do carotid surgery. This session was designed to address a controversial but critically important issue facing vascular surgeons, radiologists, cardiologists, and primary care physicians. We believe the discussion session that followed these intriguing presentations confirmed the difficult and controversial aspects of treating carotid artery disease.