Medical versus surgical treatment of patients with cerebrovascular insufficiency. A retrospective comparative study.

Report on a series of patients suffering from cerebrovascular insufficiency caused by stenosis and/or occlusion of one or several major cerebral vessels. The patients were divided in two groups, one being medically treated with anticoagulants, the other operated on either a carotid artery thrombosis by thromboendarterectomy or occlusion treated with an extracranial-intracranial arterial bypass. Results after a follow-up period of 1-3 years are compared and discussed in view of the recent literature.