Comparison of patients undergoing carotid or vertebral artery stenting according to age and sex risk factors

Despite recent developments in stroke management, stroke is still the second leading cause of mortality worldwide and is the major cause of long-term disability. Epidemiological studies have shown that carotid artery disease and vertebral artery disease account for about 10 to 20% and 8% of all stroke cases, respectively. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the possible relationship between risk factors and age and sex of the patients undergoing carotid or vertebral artery stenting. Between February 2015 and September 2018, medical data of patients who underwent carotid or vertebral artery stenting at Gaziantep University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurology were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were stratified according to age as <65 years, 65-74 years, and ≥75 years. Data including sociodemographic characteristics of the patients, arteries stented, presence of symptoms, comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, or cardiac diseases, smoking and alcohol history, and previous stroke were recorded and evaluated according to the age and sex. The results of the study revealed that 68.7% of the patients were males and 83.7% underwent carotid artery stenting. There was no statistically significant difference in the risk factors between the patients with carotid artery stenting and those with vertebral artery stenting (p>0.05). Hypertension (65.5%) was the most common risk factor. Diabetes, smoking history, and previous stroke were statistically significantly more common in the patients below 75 years (p<0.05). The rate of diabetes and hypertension was significantly higher in female patients, while the rate of smoking and alcohol history was significantly higher in male patients (p<0.05). In conclusion, risk factors vary according to age and sex of patients. The risk of ischemic stroke and mortality and morbidity rates can be substantially reduced by identifying risk factors in subpopulations and implementing specific preventive medicine measures. Keywords: Ischemic stroke, Carotid artery stenosis, Vertebral artery stenosis, Stent, Risk factors.