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SummaryBackgroundStents are an alternative treatment to carotid endarterectomy for symptomatic carotid stenosis, but previous trials have not established equivalent safety and efficacy. We compared the safety of carotid artery stenting with that of carotid endarterectomy.MethodsThe International Carotid Stenting Study (ICSS) is a multicentre, international, randomised controlled trial with blinded adjudication of outcomes. Patients with recently symptomatic carotid artery stenosis were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive carotid artery stenting or carotid endarterectomy. Randomisation was by telephone call or fax to a central computerised service and was stratified by centre with minimisation for sex, age, contralateral occlusion, and side of the randomised artery. Patients and investigators were not masked to treatment assignment. Patients were followed up by independent clinicians not directly involved in delivering the randomised treatment. The primary outcome measure of the trial is the 3-year rate of fatal or disabling stroke in any territory, which has not been analysed yet. The main outcome measure for the interim safety analysis was the 120-day rate of stroke, death, or procedural myocardial infarction. Analysis was by intention to treat (ITT). This study is registered, number ISRCTN25337470.FindingsThe trial enrolled 1713 patients (stenting group, n=855; endarterectomy group, n=858). Two patients in the stenting group and one in the endarterectomy group withdrew immediately after randomisation, and were not included in the ITT analysis. Between randomisation and 120 days, there were 34 (Kaplan-Meier estimate 4·0%) events of disabling stroke or death in the stenting group compared with 27 (3·2%) events in the endarterectomy group (hazard ratio [HR] 1·28, 95% CI 0·77–2·11). The incidence of stroke, death, or procedural myocardial infarction was 8·5% in the stenting group compared with 5·2% in the endarterectomy group (72 vs 44 events; HR 1·69, 1·16–2·45, p=0·006). Risks of any stroke (65 vs 35 events; HR 1·92, 1·27–2·89) and all-cause death (19 vs seven events; HR 2·76, 1·16–6·56) were higher in the stenting group than in the endarterectomy group. Three procedural myocardial infarctions were recorded in the stenting group, all of which were fatal, compared with four, all non-fatal, in the endarterectomy group. There was one event of cranial nerve palsy in the stenting group compared with 45 in the endarterectomy group. There were also fewer haematomas of any severity in the stenting group than in the endarterectomy group (31 vs 50 events; p=0·0197).InterpretationCompletion of long-term follow-up is needed to establish the efficacy of carotid artery stenting compared with endarterectomy. In the meantime, carotid endarterectomy should remain the treatment of choice for patients suitable for surgery.FundingMedical Research Council, the Stroke Association, Sanofi-Synthélabo, European Union.

Hemoptysis can be a life-threatening respiratory emergency and indicates potentially serious underlying intrathoracic disease. Large-volume hemoptysis carries significant mortality and warrants urgent investigation and intervention. Initial assessment by chest radiography, bronchoscopy, and computed tomography (CT) is useful in localizing the bleeding site and identifying the underlying cause. Multidetector CT angiography is a relatively new imaging technique that allows delineation of abnormal bronchial and nonbronchial arteries using reformatted images in multiple projections, which can be used to guide therapeutic arterial embolization procedures. Bronchial artery embolization (BAE) is now considered to be the most effective procedure for the management of massive and recurrent hemoptysis, either as a first-line therapy or as an adjunct to elective surgery. It is a safe technique in the hands of an experienced operator with knowledge of bronchial artery anatomy and the potential pitfalls of the procedure. Recurrent bleeding is not uncommon, especially if there is progression of the underlying disease process. Prompt repeat embolization is advised in patients with recurrent hemoptysis in order to identify nonbronchial systemic and pulmonary arterial sources of bleeding. This article reviews the pathophysiology and causes of hemoptysis, diagnostic imaging and therapeutic options, and technique and outcomes of BAE.

The data support the use of endovascular repair of the thoracic aorta in Type B aortic dissection. 30-d outcomes are acceptable. Patients with AAD demonstrate significant aortic remodelling whereas patients with CAD do not. This has significant implications for practice as patients with CAD must rely on maintenance of false lumen thrombosis to preserve the integrity of the endovascular repair.

Abdominal visceral artery aneurysms (VAA) include true and false aneurysms. The majority are asymptomatic and are discovered on cross-sectional imaging performed for unrelated clinical indications. With the maturation of techniques and devices used for embolization procedures and the treatment of aneurysms in other locations, most VAAs are now suitable for treatment by minimally invasive transcatheter techniques. The choice of technique used greatly depends on the local anatomy of the VAA and the experience of the interventional radiologist in complex vascular interventional techniques.

Placement of metallic esophageal endoprostheses is substantially better than endoscopic laser therapy for palliation of dysphagia in patients with inoperable esophageal carcinoma. Use of uncovered and plastic-covered metallic stents provides equal palliation in patients with dysphagia.

We report the observation of bistable polarization switching in a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser under optical injection. The wavelength dependence of the switching is measured. It is found that this polarization switching is achieved through injection locking where both the wavelength and the polarization of the vertical-cavity laser are locked to the injected optical signal.

Meta-analyses demonstrated no statistically significant difference, but there were marginally fewer complications with pooled ACDs compared with manual compression (odds ratio [OR] 0.87, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.52-1.48, p = 0.13). The Angioseal group compared with the manual-compression group (total complication rate: OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.53-1.34, p = 0.49) and the Perclose group compared with the manual-compression group (total complication rate: OR 1.29, 95% CI 0.19-8.96, p = 0.01) each demonstrated trends for and against the specified ACD, respectively. Adequately powered randomised controlled trials are required to further elucidate the efficacy of ACDs.