Digital transvenous angiography in follow-up examinations after carotid reconstruction: early results.

A total of 187 check-up examinations by DVSA were carried out after various types of carotid reconstructions. The results were inconclusive in only 2.7% of the cases. A good or very good postoperative result could be demonstrated in 77.5%. A slight stenosis was present in 16%, a significant stenosis in 2.7% and a complete occlusion of the internal carotid artery in 1.1%. Patch plasty alone showed the best results followed by endarterectomy and endarterectomy with patch plasty. Segmental carotid resections and dilatations led to the poorest results. Most of those cases, where a stenosis recurred, it was already present immediately after the operation and only rarely caused by progression of the basic disease or intimal proliferation. The complication rate of DVSA was low. It is concluded that DVSA is a low risk and reliable method which can routinely be used in the postoperative evaluation of patients with carotid reconstructions.