EXTRACRANIAL CAROTID-ARTERY ANEURYSMS

Background. Extracranial carotid aneurysms are quite rare diseases. Th eir importance is linked both to critical localization and natural his tory which can lead to neurological events such as TIA and stroke, The importance of an accurate diagnosis is related to the necessity to ca rry out an early repair of these lesions and so to achieve the prevent ion of serious complications with minimal surgical risk. Materials and methods. At the Department of Vascular Surgery of the University of F lorence from January 1982 to December 1995, 2138 surgical procedures o n extracranial carotid arteries carried out. Twenty-one (0.98%) were p erformed for aneurysms, On the basis of clinical history and instrumen tal findings we divided the patients into three groups: atheroscleroti c aneurysms (AA, 10 cases), dysplasic aneurysms (DA, 6 cases) and pseu doaneurysms (PA, 5 cases). Results. Global mortality and major morbili ty rate was 4.7% (one patient suffered perioperative stroke). Eighteen (85.7%) were followed by echo color Doppler. No one stenosis and/or d ilatation of operated vessel was observed during the mean follow-up pe riod of 24 months, In one case (5.5%) of pseudoaneurysms group an asym ptomatic internal carotid artery occlusion was discovered 3 months aft er surgery. Conclusions. In our experience, surgical treatment of extr acranial carotid aneurysms is associated with satisfactory results and low incidence of perioperative complications that justified an extens ive and early surgical therapy.