Article Sidebar
Article Details
Copyright remains in the Author’s name. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial Works License. Authors are required to complete and sign an Author Agreement form that outlines Author and Publisher rights and terms of publication. The Agreement form should be uploaded along with other submissions files and any submission will be considered incomplete without it [forthcoming].
Material submitted for publication in the SAMJ is accepted provided it has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Please inform the editorial team if the main findings of your paper have been presented at a conference and published in abstract form, to avoid copyright infringement. The SAMJ does not hold itself responsible for statements made by the authors.
Previously published images
If an image/figure has been previously published, permission to reproduce or alter it must be obtained by the authors from the original publisher and the figure legend must give full credit to the original source. This credit should be accompanied by a letter indicating that permission to reproduce the image has been granted to the author/s. This letter should be uploaded as a supplementary file during submission.
Main Article Content
Carotid endarterectomy in Durban - the first 10 years
Abstract
This study was a prospective evaluation of the Durban experience with carotid endarterectomy over the past decade. Since 1981, 478 carotid endarterectomies have been performed in 411 patients. The majority of these patients were white men, with an average age of 60,6 years. The indication for surgery was a lateralising transient ischaemic attack or atnaurosis fugax in 65,50/0, lateralising stroke « 1 year before surgery) in 14,4%, non-lateralising global cerebral ischaemia in 9,4% and asymptomatic carotid stenosis in 10,7%. Carotid endarterectomy was performed under general anaesthesia and with invasive monitoring; 25% of patients underwent selective shunting. After open carotid bifurcation endarterectomy, all but 6 underwent primary closure (99,4%). The combined major stroke/mortality rate was 6%. This audit identified a group of patients who presented with a history of stroke within the year preceding surgery and who had a significantly higher postoperative stroke/mortality rate of 20,2%. Long-term follow-up, ranging from 1 month to 96 months, showed 80,7% to be strokefree after 8 years. This audit demonstrates a postoperative stroke/ mortality rate comparable to that of other series and additionally confirmed the durability of carotid endarterectomy in the long term.
