Joint Study of Extracranial Arterial Occlusion: III. Progress Report of Controlled Study of Long-Term Survival in Patients With and Without Operation

Surgical or nonsurgical treatment was randomly selected for 1,225 patients with occlusive cerebrovascular disease. Statistically significant differences in cumulative survival rate at 42 months were as follows: (1) Surgical treatment appeared more beneficial for unilateral carotid artery stenosis in patients with transient attacks or a mild-to-moderate neurological deficit. (2) Nonsurgical treatment produced better results for unilateral carotid artery stenosis in patients with a moderateto-severe neurological deficit. (3) Nonsurgical treatment appeared more beneficial for combined unilateral carotid artery stenosis and contralateral carotid artery occlusion if patients had a moderate-to-severe neurological deficit. (4) Nonsurgical treatment appeared more beneficial for patients with completed strokes who had a marked and persistent neurological deficit.