Outcome from carotid endarterectomy. Neuropsychological performances, depressive symptoms and quality of life: 8-month follow-up.

A preliminary study was carried out on a population of twenty-five consecutive and unselected patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy. A matched control group of subjects suffering from same pathology, but unoperated, was compared to experimental sample. A battery of neuropsychological tests, the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale and the Jachuck's Quality of Life Impairment Scale were administered one week before surgery, two weeks after (surgical sample only) and then eight months later. The research shows that carotid endarterectomy does not impair neuropsychological performances, but produces some improvement, reaching significant level in the case of Word Fluency 1 and Similarities tests; depressive scores remained substantially unchanged, while quality of life improved slightly.