When the carotid arteries, those vital pathways that carry blood from the heart to the brain, become narrowed, doctors have essentially two means of intervening and preventing a stroke. You can undergo an endarterectomy, a surgical procedure in which the artery is opened and plaque is removed, or you can have a stent put in to help keep blood flowing to the brain. Studies in recent years have shown that endarterectomy tends to be a safer option than stenting. But many patients with carotid artery disease arent good candidates for surgery, perhaps because they have other medical conditions that have left them especially frail, or because they have had a stroke previously, heightening their risk of a subsequent stroke following stenting.
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