LAUSR

Carotid Artery Stenting (CAS) is a recognised alternative procedure to Carotid Endarterectomy (CEA) for the treatment of severe carotid stenosis, especially when patients age and anatomy, surgical risk and clinical experience are considered in the choice of treatment [1–4]. Specifically, CAS is considered for patients at high-risk for surgery owing to anatomical and/or clinical factors, such as contralateral laryngeal-nerve palsy, previous radical neck surgery, or restenosis after CEA [5,6], but it is not recommended for acutely symptomatic patients [6,7]. Its minimally invasive nature, together with the increased number of trained physicians, has made CAS widely adopted in routine clinical practice [2,8–11]. Despite this fact, the need for CAS has been debated in several clinical controversies and it has been the subject of intense investigation since its first application [12].