Surgery halves death risk for stroke patients versus stent treatment

People at high risk of having a stroke are half as likely to have a stroke or die following surgery to repair damage to an artery in the neck, rather than 'stenting' treatment, according to UCL research published in the Lancet today. These findings emerged from a major trial carried out at the UCL Institute of Neurology, which was funded by the Medical Research Council and The Stroke Association.  'Stenting' is a treatment that relieves pressure in the carotid artery using a wire mesh tube or 'stent', which is then fed through to the neck using a catheter in the groin. It was introduced as an alternative to traditional surgery, in which an incision in the neck is made directly to the artery, but which has been known to increase a person's risk of heart attack. The results of the study showed that the rate of stroke or death within 30 days of treatment for patients was 7.4 per cent in those treated by stenting, compared with 3.4 per cent in those treated by surgery. Until now there has not been any conclusive proof over which method was safer and offered the lower risk of complications. Both groups involved in this study, involving over 1,700 patients, had a very low rate of heart attack of less than 0.5 per cent. Patients were selected who had already had a 'mini stroke' and were therefore at a much higher risk of going on to have further strokes.