Asymptomatic Carotid Artery Stenosis

Asymptomatic carotid stenosis is fairly common in elderly patients, especially those with symptomatic atherosclerotic disease in other vascular beds. Although the term asymptomatic implies that these patients have no clinical manifestations, there can be associated silent brain infarcts and cognitive impairment. Carotid revascularization procedures are frequently performed in asymptomatic patients. The prognosis for medically treated patients appears to be improving in the last decade. Whether carotid revascularization is still useful for asymptomatic carotid stenosis is being tested in current clinical studies.