Purpose: Myocardial infarction and other comorbidities contribute to c
omplications after carotid endarterectomy (CEA). However, because the
combined stroke and death rate after CEA is less than 5%, even relativ
ely large series have small numbers of adverse events that preclude a
detailed analysis of the association between the outcome and the patie
nt factors, such as comorbidity and age. We sought to overcome this li
mitation by studying patients who underwent CEA in a large random samp
le of Medicare beneficiaries. Methods: me used a database that contain
ed a 20% random sample of all Medicare beneficiaries to identify patie
nts who underwent CEA between the years 1988 to 1990 (n = 22,165), and
we followed these cases until 1992. With multivariate logistic regres
sion and Cox proportional hazards regression models, we examined the i
mpact of age, race, gender, geographic location, hospital characterist
ics, and comorbidity, including acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and
congestive heart failure (CHF), on the risk of stroke and death after
CBA. Results: AMI and CHP had the greatest negative impact on the long
-term survival rates (adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 2.40, P <.0001, and
2.85, P <.0001, respectively). Other variables with a significant impa
ct on the long-term survival rates were an age of >80 pears (HR, 2.16;
P<.0001), an acute stroke (HR, 1.51; P <.0001), diabetes mellitus (DM
; HR, 1.52; P <.0001), and male sex (HR, 1.32; P <.0001). In addition,
AMI, CHF, DM, and advanced age were associated with an increased risk
of perioperative stroke and death. Conclusion: Patients with AMI, CHF
, DM, and an age of >80 years have diminished perioperative and long-t
erm survival rates after CEA. These results may alter the risk/benefit
analysis for such patients, especially those with asymptomatic diseas
e.