I. Petrov, L. Grozdinski, I. Tasheva, B. Zehirov
Department of Cardiology and Angiology, City Clinic – Sofia, Bulgaria

Objective: Occluded and nearly occluded internal carotid arteries have lower risk of subsequent stroke, because antegrade flow no longer exists. Still, cervical ICA occlusion is associated with an annual risk of 6 to 20% of ipsilateral recurrent stroke. Extracranial-to-intracranial (EC-IC) artery bypass failed to reduce the risk of ischemic stroke. Occlusion/ near occlusion of internal carotid arteries has long been definitive contraindication for endovascular treatment but several small series showed that endovascular recanalization and stenting of occluded and near occluded carotids is feasible. Data are still controversial. To analyze and present the results of percutaneous recanalization and stenting of total and subtotal carotid stenoses for a 10 years period.