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Background: The occurrence of ischemic lesions is common in patients receiving carotid artery stenting (CAS), and most of them are clinically silent. However, few studies have directly addressed the cognitive sequelae of these procedure-related silent ischemic lesions (SILs). Objective: In this study, we attempted to investigate the effects of SILs on cognition using a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests. Method: Eighty-five patients with unilateral carotid stenosis and 25 age-matched healthy volunteers participated in this study. Brain MRI was performed within 1 week before and 1 week after CAS to monitor the occurrence of post-CAS SILs. A comprehensive battery tapping reading ability, verbal and non-verbal memory, visuospatial function, manual dexterity, executive function, and processing speed was administered 1 week before and 6 months after CAS. To control for practice effects on repeated cognitive testing, the reliable change index (RCI) derived from the healthy volunteers was used to determine the cognitive changes in patients with carotid stenosis. Results: Among the 85 patients with carotid stenosis, 21 patients received medical treatment (MED group), and procedure-related SILs were noted in 17 patients (SIL+ group) but not observed in 47 patients (SIL– group) after undergoing CAS. Two-way (group × phase) ANOVA revealed that the volunteer group showed improved scores in most cognitive tests while only limited improvement was noted in the SIL– group. The MED and control groups tended to show improvement in the follow-up cognitive testing than the SIL+ group. However, most of the cognitive changes for each patient group did not exceed the upper or lower limits (z = ±1.0) of the RCI. Conclusions: Although the occurrence of procedure-related SILs is common in patients undergoing CAS, their impacts on cognitive changes after CAS may be limited. The practice effect should be taken into consideration when interpreting cognitive changes following CAS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To identify predictors of carotid artery stenosis (CAS) progression in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients after radiation therapy (RT). Methods: We included 217 stroke-naïve HNC patients with mild carotid artery stenosis after RT in our hospital. These patients underwent annual carotid duplex ultrasound (CDU) studies to monitor CAS progression. CAS progression was defined as the presence of ≥50% stenosis of the internal/common carotid artery on follow-up CDU. We recorded total plaque score (TPS) and determined the cut-off TPS to predict CAS progression. We categorized patients into high (HP) and low plaque (LP) score groups based on their TPS at enrolment. We analyzed the cumulative events of CAS progression in the two groups. Results: The TPS of the CDU study at enrolment was a significant predictor for CAS progression (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.69, p = 0.002). The cut-off TPS was 7 (area under the curve: 0.800), and a TPS ≥ 7 strongly predicted upcoming CAS progression (aOR = 41.106, p = 0.002). The HP group had a higher risk of CAS progression during follow-up (adjusted hazard ratio = 6.15; 95% confident interval: 2.29–16.53) in multivariable Cox analysis, and also a higher trend of upcoming ischemic stroke (HP vs. LP: 8.3% vs. 2.2%, p = 0.09). Conclusions: HNC patients with a TPS ≥ 7 in any CDU study after RT are susceptible to CAS progression and should receive close monitoring within the following 2 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We enrolled 221 patients with elective carotid artery stenting (CAS). Patients with contralateral carotid stenosis exceeding 50%, insufficient vertebral artery (VA) flows, or angioplasty at subclavian artery were excluded. All patients underwent serial cerebral ultrasound studies. Of the 116 included patients, the direction of ophthalmic artery (OA) flow was forward in 74 patients while reversed in 42. The reversed flow group had worse ipsilateral stenosis, higher hemoglobin, and cardiac output. After CAS, the reversed flow group had an immediate recovery of ipsilateral internal carotid artery flow volume (FV; P < .0001), time average velocity (TAV) of middle cerebral artery (P = .02), and normalization of OA flow. The forward flow group had gradual decrement in TAV of contralateral anterior cerebral artery (P = .01) and total FV of VA (P = .001). Our results suggest CAS improves cerebral hemodynamics through different ways regardless of the direction of OA flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The occurrence of silent ischemic lesions (SILs) is a common finding after carotid artery stenting (CAS). This study aimed to evaluate the impact of SILs on cognitive functioning following CAS. Methods: The retrospective study separated 131 patients with unilateral carotid stenosis into three groups: medication only, MRI-evaluated CAS and CT-evaluated CAS, and compared the sociodemographic factors, post-CAS images and Mini-Mental State Examination scores performed before and 6-12 months after enrollment. Results: Seven minor strokes occurred in the 99 patients receiving CAS. SILs were detected in 12 of 55 patients with diffusion-weighted MR imaging (DWI) and in 3 of 37 patients with CT 1 week after CAS. In patients with DWI follow-up, the frequency of SILs was 8, 24, 43 and 60% in patients with 0-, 1-, 2- and 3-vessel coronary artery disease (p = 0.006). The frequency of SILs on DWI was 0, 32 and 33% in patients with improved, unchanged, or deteriorated cognitive functioning (p = 0.02). Such an association was not observed if based on SILs on CT or manifesting stroke. Conclusion: The presence of coronary artery disease increases the risk for having post-CAS SILs, and the occurrence of SILs may be associated with cognitive changes after CAS. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Leukoaraiosis (LA) affects cognition after stroke and reversal of LA may improve cognitive performance. We aimed to determine the impact of cerebral perfusion and circle of Willis (CoW) flow patterns on the extent of LA after carotid artery revascularization. Methods: LA was scored on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery magnetic resonance (MR) images at the levels of the centrum semiovale and frontal horns in both cerebral hemispheres of 62 contiguous patients (men/women = 38/24, mean age = 63.2 ± 8.4 years, range 44-82) before and after unilateral carotid artery revascularization. The pre- and poststenting differences in LA scores, CoW flow pattern on MR angiography, and MR perfusion parameters were analyzed. Results: The total LA score decreased from 9.87 ± 0.65 to 8.33 ± 0.72 after stenting (p = 0.03). The CoW was complete in 21 subjects and incomplete in 41 subjects. The incomplete CoW group had a higher preoperative LA load and higher cerebral interhemispheric asymmetry index, both of which decreased significantly postoperatively. Conclusions: CoW anomalies may contribute to LA in patients with carotid artery stenosis, and restoration of cerebral perfusion by carotid artery revascularization can reduce LA severity. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Various cerebral pathological changes have been reported to cause leukoaraiosis (LA). We hypothesized that circle of Willis (CoW) anomalies may contribute to LA in severe carotid artery stenosis victims through impaired cerebral autoregulation. We conducted a retrospective review on cerebral magnetic resonance (MR) patterns in patients with severe symptomatic carotid artery stenosis and compared white matter lesion (WML) load between subjects with and without complete CoW. Methods: LA on fluid attenuation inversion recovery (FLAIR) MR images at the levels of the centrum semiovale and frontal horns in both cerebral hemispheres were scored in 106 patients with unilateral carotid artery stenosis (64 men and 42 women; mean age 68.7 ± 9.2 years, range 44-82). Subjects were divided into groups of complete and incomplete CoW according to cerebral MR angiography. Differences in the LA scores between the groups of complete and incomplete CoW were further analyzed. Results: Compared with those with incomplete configuration of the CoW, subjects with a complete CoW demonstrated a decreased WML load at the level of the centrum semiovale (2.78 ± 1.17 vs. 5.62 ± 2.12, p = 0.02) and frontal horns (2.21 ± 0.79 vs. 4.22 ± 1.83, p = 0.01). Conclusion: Our results support the importance of a complete CoW since it may protect from WML in case of carotid stenosis. Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]