Carotid artery stenosis in asymptomatic patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting: who and when should be screened?

Abstract

BACKGROUND Carotid artery stenosis (CAS) is one of the major causes of stroke in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). AIMS The aim of this study was to determine which age groups require screening for CAS using carotid duplex ultrasound in asymptomatic patients undergoing CABG. METHODS We included 644 neurologically asymptomatic consecutive patients (mean [SD] age, 63.9 [8.8] years; men, 453 [70.3%]) who underwent elective isolated CABG between June 2015 and June 2020. Clinical, demographic, and radiological data as well as coronary angiography results were retrospectively reviewed. Patients were classified into 4 age groups: 40 to 50, 51 to 60, 61 to 70, and >70 years, as well as 3 groups depending on the CAS degree: 50% or less, 50% to 70%, and 70% or greater. Regression analysis was applied across the selected parameters to identify risk factors for significant CAS, and receiver operating characteristic analysis, to determine cutoff age and SYNTAX score of patients who had to be screened before CABG. RESULTS Overall, 8 (1.1%) patients included in the present study had stroke following CABG. Cutoff values of the SYNTAX score and CAS of 70% or greater were found to be 27 and 64 years, respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of the cutoff value were 98.4% to 98.3% and 74.3% to 55.1%, respectively. The area under the curve was 0.98 and 0.73, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Based on the receiver operating characteristic analysis, we recommended to perform screening for CAS in patients older than 64 years and with a SYNTAX score of 27 or higher, even if they are asymptomatic.