Immediate and late outcomes of stenting for severe extracranial internal carotid artery stenosis in octogenarian patients

BACKGROUND: Multiple studies suggest that internal carotid artery stenting can be performed safely in octogenarians with low periprocedural complication rates. However, great concern still exists as to whether these patients will gain long‐term benefits from this procedure given their advanced age and uncertain life expectancy. We decided to conduct a retrospective study to determine short‐and long‐term clinical outcomes and to analyze survival duration in this population. METHODS AND RESULTS: Sixty‐nine consecutive elderly patients with either symptomatic or asymptomatic stenosis ≥70% underwent 86 procedures. Immediate and late outcomes, as well as survival data, were analyzed retrospectively. Mean age was 83.1 ± 2.7 years. Mean survival was 49.3 ± 10.1 months. A complete neurological assessment was obtained at 1 and 2 years in 100% of patients, at 3 years in 90.7% of patients and at 5 years in 84.8% of patients. Two major and one minor ischemic strokes occurred during the periprocedural period. No death, myocardial infarction or intracranial hemorrhage was recorded. The mean follow‐up period was 55.4 ± 24.6 months. Four patients experienced a minimum of 1 year of follow‐up, and the longest is 8 years. Among the patients with the longest follow‐up time, 6 had ischemic strokes, of which 2 were fatal. In total, 17 deaths occurred. Four patients experienced dementia without stroke. Survival at 3 and 5 years was estimated to be 90% and 73%, respectively. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that stenting in octogenarians was safe and effective during the periprocedural period. Long‐term follow‐up showed a low rate of fatal and nonfatal stroke, and patients survived long enough to benefit from the procedure. However, it was associated with a relatively high rate of long‐term event. Though carotid artery stenting is a minimally invasive procedure, it should still be performed with great caution and only in carefully selected patients. The present study suggested that in this age population, carotid artery stenting might be considered as a revascularization option.