The quoted combined mortality and morbidity following carotid endarterectomy is about 5–7%. In an attempt to identify a subgroup of high risk patients, a review has been undertaken of 404 carotid endarterectomies performed between January 1985 and March 1994. The perioperative mortality rate was 2%, with 3.4% of patients experiencing transient neurological deficits and 4% permanent strokes. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the influence on outcome of age, gender, indication for surgery, bilateral internal carotid artery disease, hypertension and smoking. No significant explanators were identified.

Non-invasive assessment of the lower-limb vasculature may avoid unnecessary arteriography, Colour duplex scanning of the femoral and popliteal arteries was performed in claudicants who were potential candidates for endoluminal therapy. This was compared with the findings of biplanar conventional arteriography and intra-arterial digital subtraction angiography. in 112 lower limbs duplex gave the following results compared with angiography: the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy for occlusions (n = 48), stenoses (n = 31), atheromatous vessel (n = 21) and disease-free (n = 12) were all greater or equal to 94%. The lengths of the occlusions were accurately identified by duplex. Clinical examination and spectral analysis at the common femoral artery failed to identify two patients who had an iliac lesion. Colour duplex examination is the investigation of choice in assessing the major infrainguinal arteries in patients with claudication.

Non-invasive assessment of lower limb vasculature may avoid unnecessary angiography in claudicants. Colour duplex ultrasonography of the femoral and popliteal arteries was performed to assess patency and the presence of any stenoses, and pulse-generated run-off (PGR) was used to assess the distal vasculature. In 65 legs colour duplex scanning was successful, compared with angiography, in identifying the site and type of disease in the femoropopliteal segment and 23 lesions were correctly identified as suitable for angioplasty. More patent distal vessels were demonstrated by PGR than by angiography; no vessels patent on angiography were missed by PGR. The estimated cost of diagnostic angiography was 330 pounds per test compared with 52 pounds for non-invasive assessment. By using duplex examination as a screening test, a potential saving of 8062 pounds could have been made in this series. Duplex ultrasonography offers a non-invasive and cost-effective alternative to diagnostic angiography for clinically suspected infrainguinal arterial disease presenting as claudication. PGR was not of clinical value in assessing suitability for angioplasty.

Twenty-seven patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy (21 M, 6 F), with a mean age of 62 years, were studied by carotid ultrasound imaging, angiography, and histological examination of endarterectomy specimens, including Perl's stain to detect haemorrhage more than a week old. Haemorrhage into a plaque was seen histologically in 21 patients (78%), compared with 19 (70%) diagnosed preoperatively as echolucent heterogeneous plaques on ultrasound imaging. The remainder were echogenic homogeneous, fibrous plaques. In only one case was the nature of the plaque diagnosed by contrast arteriography. Excised endarterectomy specimens were inspected independently of the ultrasound assessment to determine whether the site of haemorrhage communicated with the base of an atherosclerotic ulcer. Communicating haemorrhages were present in 9 of 11 with episodic symptoms and non-communicating haemorrhages in 7 of 10 patients with a single cerebrovascular event. Perl's stain showed recent haemorrhage in 7 of 11 patients with multiple symptoms, and old haemorrhage in 9 of 10 patients with a single event. These findings suggest that ultrasonically heterogeneous communicating carotid plaques are symptomatically more active than homogeneous non-communicating plaques.

Three hundred and twenty-three angioplasties (159 iliac; 164 femoro-popliteal) were performed for lower limb ischaemia on 253 consecutive patients from 1980-86. The mean resting ankle/brachial pressure index (ABPI) was increased at one month in open angioplasties as follows: Femoro-popliteal 0.56-0.82; iliac with open superficial femoral artery (SFA) 0.7-0.95; iliac with occluded SFA 0.52-0.63. Successful angioplasty virtually abolished the post-exercise fall in ABPI except for patients having iliac dilations when multisegment disease was present. At 5 years, cumulative patency was 72% for iliac angioplasty and 53% for femoro-popliteal angioplasty. The results of angioplasty were compared with operative arterial reconstructions during 1985. Eighty-eight (91%) of 96 surgical bypasses were alive and patent at hospital discharge and 44 (71%) of 62 angioplasties were patent at 1 month. There were many fewer complications with angioplasty which involved a much shorter hospital stay (2 days vs 16 days).