Carotid endarterectomy reduces major stroke and death in symptomatic patients with severe stenosis

The NASCET included 659 patients with a recent TIA or nondisabling stroke and a 70 to 99 percent carotid stenosis who were randomly assigned to carotid endarterectomy or medical therapy. At two-year follow-up, the cumulative risk of a major stroke or death was significantly lower in the endarterectomy group compared with the medical treatment group (8.0 versus 19.1 percent). The Kaplan-Meier survival curve shows the probability of event-free survival after randomization at six-month intervals.