Introduction:

Cardiovascular events constitute a global health problem with a growing tendency. Nowadays, they represent the third cause of death.

Objective:

To describe the effectiveness and durability of long-term carotid endarterectomy in the extracranial carotid disease.

Methods:

A descriptive, ambispective study was conducted in 44 patients subjected to 52 carotid endarterectomies that were performed in the service of Angiology and Vascular Surgery of "Hermanos Ameijeiras" Teaching-Clinical- Surgical Hospital. A clinical follow-up was performed with Doppler ultrasonography to all the patients. The period analyzed was eight years. The variables considered were: sex, age, associated risk factors, clinical category, topographical localization of the lesions, late complications, time of permeability and postsurgical results.

Results:

Male sex predominated (68,2 %). Asymptomatic and symptomatic carotid lesions represented 50% respectively. The smoking habit and dyslipidemia were the most common risk factors. There was predominance of late complications (55,8%) being notable the carotid restenosis (n = 21). The average time of primary permeability of the revascularized sector was five years. 86,5% of the patients followed in the long term showed satisfactory postsurgical results by not presenting ischemic neurological events or carotid lesions with hemodynamic impact.

Conclusions:

Carotid endarterectomy is a safe procedure with low morbidity and peri-operative mortality that ensures a significant reduction in ischemic cerebrovascular disease´s rates in long-term follow-up with low incidence of late vascular and neurological complications.