Carotid endarterectomy: technical improvements.

The immediate surgical results of 163 consecutive carotid endarterectomies performed in a neurosurgical training center are presented. The mortality rate was 0.6% and the permanent neurological morbidity rate was 2.5%. Several factors in the surgical technique including the use of magnified vision, full heparinization, the liberal use of intimal tacking sutures, and the employment of an indwelling shunt are thought to be responsible in part for the improved surgical results. (Neurosurgery, 7: 309-312, 1980).