ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: Renal failure is a predictor of adverse outcomes in carotid revascularization. There has been debate regarding the benefit of revascularization in patients with severe CKD or on dialysis. METHODS: VQI patients undergoing TCAR, tfCAS, or CEA between 2016 and 2023 with eGFR <30 ml/min/1.73m2 or on dialysis were included. Patients were divided into cohorts based on procedure. Additional analyses were performed for patients on dialysis only and by symptomatology. Primary outcomes were perioperative stroke/death/MI (SDM). Secondary outcomes included perioperative death, stroke, MI, CNI and stroke/death. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPW) was performed based on treatment assignment to TCAR, tfCAS, and CEA patients and adjusted for demographics, comorbidities, and pre-op symptoms. Chi-square and multivariable logistic regression analysis were used to evaluate the association of procedure with perioperative outcomes in the weighted cohort. Five-year survival was evaluated using Kaplan-Meier and weighted Cox regression. RESULTS: In the weighted cohort, 13,851 patients with eGFR of <30 (2,506 on dialysis) underwent TCAR (3,639, dialysis 704), tfCAS (1,975, 393) or CEA (8,237, 1,409) during the study period. Compared with TCAR, CEA had higher odds of stroke/death/MI (2.8% vs 3.6%, aOR 1.27 [1.00,1.61], p=.049), and MI (0.7% vs 1.5%, aOR 2.00 [1.31,3.05], p=.001)... Compared to TCAR, rates of SDM (2.8%vs5.8%), stroke (1.2%vs2.6%), death (0.9%vs2,4%)were all higher for tfCAS. In asymptomatic patients CEA patients had higher odds of MI (0.7% vs 1.3%, aOR 1.85[1.15, 2.97]p=.011) and CNI (0.3% vs 1.9%, aOR 7.23[3.28, 15.9] p<.001). Like the primary analysis, asymptomatic tfCAS patients demonstrated higher odds of death, and stroke/death. Symptomatic CEA patients demonstrated no difference in stroke, death or stroke/death. While tfCAS patients demonstrated higher odds of death, stroke, MI, stroke/death, and SDM. In both groups, 5-year survival was similar for TCAR and CEA (eGFR <30: 75.1% vs 74.2%, aHR1.06, p=.3) and lower for tfCAS (eGFR <30: 75.1% vs 70.4%, aHR1.44, p<.001) CONCLUSION: CEA and TCAR had similar odds of stroke and death and are both a reasonable choice in this population; however, TCAR may be better in patients with increased risk of MI. Additionally, tfCAS patients were more likely to have worse outcomes after weighting for symptom status. Finally, while patients with reduced eGFR have worse outcomes than their healthy peers, this analysis shows that the majority of patients survive long enough to benefit from the potential stroke risk reduction provided by all revascularization procedures.
