Sunday, October 17, 2010

Stent vs. Endarectomy

According to studies by the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and Institute of Neurology at the University College London and the Duke Stroke Center in Durham, North Carolina (CREST):
If you're 70 or older and have a blocked neck artery, opt to surgically widen the artery rather than having a stent put in because research has found that your chances of dying or having a stroke are 50% as likely than inserting a stent.

Until now (September 10, 2010) many experts thought that the lesser-invasive stenting procedure would be safer.

Source: MedlinePlus, health information from the National Library of Medicine

For more on heart disease and stroke, visit 50somethinginfo.com


1 comment:

Diane J Standiford said...

Wow. I wonder how this might affect the new MS treatment of widening a vein in neck...I bet it is more costly, I wonder if Medicare will pay??