Is there carotid artery aneurysm formation following saphenous vein patch endarterectomy?
The use of saphenous vein patching following carotid endarterectomy is reported to produce aneurysmal dilatation with the risk of thrombosis and possible rupture. The authors have studied patients who have had saphenous vein patch angioplasty following carotid endarterectomy to assess whether there is any progressive arterial dilatation. Thirty-five patients who had undergone saphenous vein patch carotid endarterectomy were age- and sex-matched with 31 subjects that had direct closure endarterectomy. All participants underwent carotid duplex scanning. The external diameters of the mid common carotid artery, the bulb and the proximal internal carotid artery were measured bilaterally. The diameters of the endarterectomized carotid were compared with the contralateral side using a paired t-test. Using an unpaired t-test, the saphenous vein angioplasty group was compared with the directly closed group. A graph was plotted of the ratio of internal carotid artery diameter of the saphenous ve
