Combined carotid endarterectomy, innominate artery reconstruction, and coronary artery bypass grafting: case report.

Neurologic injury is one of the most devastating complications of combined carotid and cardiac procedures. Although the cause of the deficit is usually embolic, the exact cause is often not apparent at the time of surgery. We present a complex case of combined carotid endarterectomy, innominate artery reconstruction, and coronary artery bypass procedures in which intraoperative monitoring with somatosensory evoked potentials and transcranial Doppler ultrasonography combined with postoperative acetazolamide single photon emission computed tomographic scans was used to correlate intraoperative events with cerebral activity and functional results. Although computed tomographic scan, magnetic resonance imaging, and clinical evaluation were negative for any evidence of stroke, the patient exhibited subtle postoperative changes in neuropsychologic function. These changes were correlated with intraoperative microemboli detected by transcranial Doppler monitoring, and postoperative acetazolamide single photon emission computed tomographic scanning, which revealed bilateral cortical defects.