History and current status of endovascular management for the extracranial carotid and supra-aortic vessels.

Few procedures in the history of medicine have been more controversial than carotid artery stenting (CAS) for the management of carotid artery occlusive disease. Introduced just as the randomized trials were establishing carotid endarterectomy as the gold standard for carotid interventions, CAS has finally reached the point in its development when dedicated stenting systems are being tested in randomized clinical trials. Assisted by the concomitant use of distal protection devices, CAS has shown equipoise with endarterectomy in terms of safety at 30 days. This review summarizes the completed and ongoing CAS trials and the applications of endovascular techniques in the supra-aortic vessels.