[Role of carotid surgery in the prevention of cerebral infarction].

A significant part of transient or permanent cerebral ischemic attacks (CIA) are due to arterio-arterial emboli issued from carotid plaques. Surgery for carotid disobstruction aims to take out emboligenic plaques by endarterectomy (associated to angioplasty or not). The adversaries of surgical treatment sustain two main assertions: 1. carotid stenoses are not very dangerous, because the definitive thromboses they create are easily compensated by the development of collaterals, so that the risk for stroke is low. 2. this low and late risk of spontaneous carotid thrombosis is not greater than the immediate one following carotid surgery. Those objections have been encountered in randomized North American studies (Nascet & Veterans) that have been published in 1991 and 1993. They show the usefulness of correctly done surgical correction as well as for symptomatic as asymptomatic stenoses. So do we it, presenting the results of our series (2.282 procedures in 1.868 patients). The results of our series show a low combined morbidity-mortality rate (1.7%), and a yearly stroke of 1.4%.