Results of carotid artery stenting. Lessons learned in a belgian 'real world' practice.

METHODS In our department 45 CAS were performed from January 2006 until May 2018. Patient characteristics, indication for treatment and choice of treatment, minor stroke, major stroke and death rates were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS Of these patients 8/45 (18%) had a symptomatic carotid artery stenosis and 37/45 (82%) had an asymptomatic stenosis. A total minor stroke rate of 3/45 (6,6%) was recorded, but no major stroke (0%) or death (0%). Of the 37 patients who were asymptomatic at the start, 1 suffered a minor stroke (1/37, 2.7%) peri-operatively. CONCLUSION Real world data from a low volume center show that CAS performed in patients with high risk for CEA yields acceptable outcome that is comparable to the literature. Since CAS is a delicate procedure we advice to centralize the procedure to an dedicated experienced interventionalist and to perform rigorous quality control of your 'real world' data.