What is the efficacy of carotid endarterectomy for asymptomatic carotid stenosis?
The efficacy of carotid endarterectomy for asymptomatic carotid stenosis was demonstrated in the Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study Group (VACS), which found that carotid endarterectomy was associated with a reduction in disabling and fatal strokes compared to medical management alone in patients with asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis of 60-99%. The results of the trial were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1993 (Hobson et al., 1993).