Patients with unceasing kidney disease and high-grade carotid stenosis are at a higher risk of stroke than those with preserved renal function and they benefit more from carotid endarterectomy, according to a study published online in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Anna Mathew, M. D., from University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, with colleagues conducted a study on 1,490 patients with symptomatic stenosis, of whom 524 had stage 3 chronic kidney disease and 966 had reserved kidney function.

Stroke risk at two years was much higher among the patients with chronic kidney disease, at 31.6 per cent versus 19.3 per cent for those with preserved kidney function, the investigators discovered and, while the former had an 82 percent reduced risk of ipsilateral stroke after carotid endarterectomy, the reduction was 51 per cent for the latter group.

The findings indicate that CKD patients gain a significant benefit from the procedures without an increased risk of dying from surgical complications, according to researchers.

Amit Garg MD, PhD, and Anna Mathew, M. D. (Lawson Health Research Institute and The University of Western Ontario, Canada), and their colleagues wondered about the role of surgery in preventing strokes in CKD patients.

“We hope the results of our important study inform physicians about the appropriateness of carotid endarterectomy surgery for their patients with kidney disease,” said Garg.