Introduction
Surgical management of coexisting cardiac disease and extra-cranial carotid artery disease is a controversial area of debate, especially when carotid lesion is asymptomatic.1,2 Meta-analyses reported contradictory results, adequately powered randomized clinical trials do not exist demonstrating the superiority of one treatment strategy over another, and clinical practice guidelines from professional cardiovascular societies have not recommended or precluded the adoption of a specific strategy.3-10 Currently, the timing of the intervention primarily depends on clinical presentation and institutional experience.11 Thus, in this challenging scenario, risk stratification may play a key role in surgical decision making. Utilization of a risk index model when approaching patient selection and treatment modality recommendations could give physicians a more accurate way of predicting postoperative outcomes by and providing them with additional information with high-risk patients.12 While most of the single-center experiences focused on overall stroke and mortality risk analysis, there are no specific data reporting on specific predictors for these major outcomes.
The aim of this study was to identify predictors for 30-day mortality, on a cohort of consecutive patients treated with single stage coronary/valve surgery (CVS) and carotid endarterectomy (CEA).