Preventative surgery should be carried out within 2 weeks of stroke symptoms
Lancet 2004; 363: 915-24
Funded by The Stroke Association, the Carotid Endarterectomy Trialists’ Collaboration looked at factors determining the extent to which surgery reduces the risk of stroke in patients who have had either a ‘mini-stroke' or a Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA). They found that surgery was particularly effective when performed within two weeks after the initial symptoms.
Most strokes occur when a blood clot blocks an artery that carries blood to the brain. Carotid endarterectomy is a common surgical procedure that is routinely used to remove the build up of fatty deposits in the main artery between the heart and brain. These deposits could cause blood clots that block the blood supply to the brain, leading to strokes.
Professor Rothwell and others at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford found that the sooner the carotid endarterectomy surgery was performed after patients had their first stroke symptoms the more beneficial it was in reducing the risk of subsequent and more serious strokes.
Further information on the research findings can be found in the Stroke News Summer 2004 article (197 kb) ![[pdf]](/display_images/document_icons/pdf.gif){kind=icon}
18/03/04 Press Release - Stroke patients at risk from delays in surgery, warns The Stroke Association
