The performance of endarterectomy for disease of the extracranial arteries of the head.

Data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey, the Veterans Administration Hospitals and Armed Forces Hospitals were reviewed to estimate the number of endarterectomies of extracranial vessels of head and neck performed in the United States. The number increased from around 15,000 in 1971 to around 85,000 in 1982. An estimated 2.8% of those operated in non-federal hospitals were discharged dead.