Chinese patients with carotid stenosis scheduled for selective CAS will be randomized into two groups. The High-dose Atorvastatin group will receive Atorvastatin 80 mg QD from 3 days before to 3 days after CAS, then 20 mg QD until 30 days after CAS, while the Conventional-dose Atorvastatin group will receive Atorvastatin 20 mg QD from 3 days before to 30 days after CAS. All patients will receive cerebral diffusion-weighted (DW)-MRI within 7 days before CAS. Then, they will also receive repeated DW-MRI within 5 days after CAS. Efficacy for prevention of periprocedural ischemic brain damage of the two different Atorvastatin treatments will be compared, in terms of periprocedural incidence of transient ischemic attack (TIA)/ ischaemic stroke or new ischemic lesions on cerebral DW-MRI.
The purpose is to test whether a short-term, high-dose atorvastatin treatment (80mg once a daily (QD) from 3 days before to 3 days after CAS, then 20 mg QD until 30 days after CAS) is superior to conventional-dose atorvastatin treatment (20 mg QD from 3 days before to 30 days after CAS), in terms of efficacy for prevention of periprocedural ischemic brain damage in Chinese patients undergoing CAS.