Our study objective was to determine if patch angioplasty after carotid endarterectomy decreases the incidence of post-reconstruction technical defects and recurrent stenosis. This was a retrospective review of a prospectively maintained database from February 1980 to February 2000. Main outcome measures included incidence of intraoperative technical defects, residual disease within 3 months of endarterectomy, and early/late carotid restenosis50%. During the study period, 71% (1053) of patients had primary closure and 29% (435) had patch closure. Immediate post-reconstruction intraoperative imaging with angiography or duplex ultrasound was accomplished in all cases. Technical defects prompted the reopening of 136 (13%) carotid arteries closed primarily but only 9 (2%) of those that were patched (p0.0001). There were no instances of residual disease in either group. Overall rate of recurrent stenosis was 2%, 3%, and 3.5% at 5, 10, and 15 years, respectively by life-table analysis. Early and late restenosis was significantly reduced by patch angioplasty (p = 0.024 and 0.006, respectively). This study demonstrates that carotid artery patch angioplasty significantly reduces the incidence of detectable technical defects and the early/late recurrent stenosis rate.
