Editor's Choice - Effect of Carotid Interventions on Cognitive Function in Patients With Asymptomatic Carotid Stenosis: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effect of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and carotid artery stenting (CAS) on early (baseline vs. maximum three months) and late (baseline vs. at least five months) cognitive function in patients with exclusively asymptomatic carotid stenoses (ACS). METHOD: Searches were conducted in PubMed/Medline, Embase, Scopus, and the Cochrane library. This systematic review includes 31 non-randomised studies. RESULTS: Early post-operative period: In 24 CEA/CAS/CEA+CAS cohorts (n = 2 059), two cohorts (representing 91/2 059, 4.4% of the overall study population) reported significant improvement in cognitive function, while one (28/2 059, 1%) reported significant decline. Three cohorts (250/2 059, 12.5% reported "mixed findings" where some cognitive scores significantly improved, and a similar proportion declined. The majority (nine cohorts; 1 086/2 059, 53%) reported no change. Seven cohorts (250/2 059, 12.1%) were mostly unchanged but one to two individual test scores improved, while two cohorts (347/2 059, 16.8%) were mostly unchanged with one to two individual test scores worse. Late post-operative period: In 21 cohorts (n = 1 554), one (28/1 554, 1.8%) reported significantly worse cognitive function, one reported significant improvement (24/1 554, 1.5%), while a third (19/1 554, 1.2%) reported "mixed findings". The majority were unchanged (six cohorts; 1 073/1 554, 69%) or mostly unchanged, but with one to two cognitive tests showing significant improvement (11 cohorts; 386/1 554, 24.8%). Overall, there was a similar distribution of findings in small, medium, and large studies, in studies with controls vs. no controls, in studies comparing CEA vs. CAS, and in studies with shorter/longer late follow up. CONCLUSION: Notwithstanding accepted limitations regarding heterogeneity within non-randomised studies, CEA/CAS rarely improved overall late cognitive function in ACS patients (< 2%) and the risk of significant cognitive decline was equally low (< 2%). In the long term, the majority were either unchanged (69%) or mostly unchanged with one to two test scores improved (24.8%). Until new research identifies vulnerable ACS subgroups (e.g., impaired cerebral vascular reserve) or provides evidence that silent embolisation from ACS causes cognitive impairment, evidence supporting intervention in ACS patients to prevent/reverse cognitive decline is lacking.

Applications of statins in cardiothoracic surgery: more than just lipid-lowering.

Statins exert several actions in cardiothoracic surgical procedures besides lipid-lowering. In patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), statins improve bypass graft patency, perioperative as well as long-term mortality rates. In addition, statins reduce the number of postoperative complications and clinical events, revascularization rates and postoperative hospital stay (as well as associated costs). Furthermore, they are protective against de novo atrial fibrillation and renal dysfunction following CABG. In cardiac transplantation, statins decrease cardiac allograft vasculopathy and cardiac rejection rates. They are also associated with a significant reduction in mortality rates in cardiac transplant patients. According to the results of a meta-analysis, statins are associated with one life saved for every 8.5 heart transplant recipients treated for 1 year. Alternatively, routine statin treatment in cardiac transplant patients might have the potential to save 471 lives each year among the 4000 heart transplantation operations performed worldwide. The results from several studies suggest that statins may also play a role in heart valve surgery, lung transplantation, pulmonary resection and thoracic aortic aneurysm repair. Statin use is safe and cost-effective. Despite the multiple beneficial effects of statin therapy, there is evidence suggesting that a large percentage of cardiothoracic surgical patients are suboptimally treated with respect to statins. Risk management in these patients should be improved to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality rates.