Fellows’ Journal Club
Editor’s Comment
Carotid near-occlusion is distal luminal collapse of the internal carotid artery beyond a tight stenosis. Calculating percentage stenosis for carotid near-occlusion is fallacious, and near-occlusion assessment is advised before measuring for percentage stenosis. This systematic review presents what is known about carotid near-occlusion and focuses on definition, terminology, and diagnosis.
Summary
Carotid near-occlusion is distal ICA luminal collapse beyond a tight stenosis, where the distal lumen should not be used for calculating percentage stenosis. Near-occlusion with full ICA collapse is well-known, with a threadlike lumen. However, near-occlusion without collapse is often subtle and can be overlooked as a usual severe stenosis. More than 10 different terms have been used to describe near-occlusion, sometimes causing confusion. This systematic review presents what is known about carotid near-occlusion. In this first part, the foci are definition, terminology, and diagnosis.
Read this article: http://bit.ly/CarotidNearOcclusion-Review