Objective: To compare the extent of subtle cerebral damage (SCD) in patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy with or without shunt placement.
Design: Prospective, randomised study.
Patients and methods: We assessed a consecutive series of 96 patients undergoing endarterectomy for severe unilateral left carotid stenosis who had been randomly assigned to receive a shunt (48) or not (48). Eligibility criteria included age up to 80 years and Mini-Mental State Examination score >24 points. Patients underwent neuropsychological testing before surgery. Serum concentrations of S100 protein, neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were measured intraoperatively before and after carotid clamping. Finally, each patient underwent neuropsychological testing 3 weeks after surgery.
Results: Patients with and without shunt had similar serum concentrations of S100 protein, NSE and IL-6 as well as similar neuropsychological test scores, all p>0.05.
Conclusions: There was no difference in subtle cerebral damage between patients randomized to receive a shunt or not.