During the past 30 years, carotid endarterectomy for the management of cerebrovascular insufficiency has become one of the most commonly performed operations in the United States. Much knowledge has been gained, many new techniques have been developed, and much progress has been made. As with any developing field, controversies still exist in some areas of carotid surgery. The symposium that follows was presented as a panel discussion at the annual joint meeting of the Society for Vascular Surgery and the North American Chapter of the International Cardiovascular Society that was held in Dallas in June 1981. The panel devoted itself to a discussion of several important controversies in carotid surgery, in an effort to enable practicing vascular surgeons to consider all aspects of these problems and render the best possible patient care.
In the first article, Anthony Imparato, MD, and his colleagues, of New York University, discuss the problem of