BACKGROUND: Although the carotid stenosis is the main cause of cerebrovascular accident, the prevalence of clinically significant stenosis (>50%) remains unknown in our country, mainly in individuals with a surgical indication for elective myocardial revascularization surgery. OBJECTIVE: To identify the prevalence and degree of carotid stenosis in individuals with a surgical indication for MRS in a reference center in Cardiology in Brazil. METHODS: Transversal study of 457 consecutive patients of both genders, evaluated between May 2007 and April 2008 through ultrasonography with color Doppler of the carotid arteries, during the preoperative period of elective MRS. The statistical analysis was performed with the SPSS program, version 10.1. A p value <0.05 was considered significant. Seven patients were lost throughout the study. RESULTS: The mean age (±standard deviation) was 62.2 ± 9.4 years and 65.6% of the patients were males. The prevalence of significant carotid stenosis was 18.7%. As for the stratification of the degree of carotid stenosis: absence of stenosis was observed in 3.6%; stenosis < 50% was observed in 77.8%; stenosis between 50% and 69% was observed in 11.6%; stenosis between 70% and 99% was observed in 6.9% and arterial occlusion was observed in 0.2% of the individuals. The sensitivity and specificity regarding the carotid bruit were 34.5% and 88.8%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of significant carotid stenosis was high in the studied sample, which suggests this is a high-risk population for the occurrence of cerebrovascular accident.
Carotid stenosis; carotid artery diseases; coronary artery disease; coronary artery bypass
