Stroke Rates Following Surgical Versus Percutaneous Revascularization for Ischemic Heart Disease.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE OF REVIEW Coronary revascularization is a commonly performed major procedure in the hospitals. Stroke is one of the dreaded complications after coronary revascularization procedures. The focus of this review is to understand the stroke risk in percutaneous cutaneous intervention (PCI) and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) procedures. RECENT FINDINGS: Available data show that PCI offers less procedural stroke risk compared to CABG although the survival benefits of CABG are better in certain scenarios. Innovative advancements in techniques, pre-procedural optimum medical therapy (OMT), intraoperative neuro-monitoring, and multidisciplinary post procedural care are the few strategies in early detection and reduce stroke risk. Despite several innovations and strategies, it is evident that there is not enough data available to make concrete conclusions related to stroke risk after coronary revascularization, which warrants further investigation.