A carotid arterial bed with sclerotic lesions in patients with ischaemic heart disease before myocardial revascularization in extracorporeal circulation raises the risk of development of serious irreversible dysfunction of the central nervous system. The authors report on the results of ultrasound examination of the carotid arteries in 284 patients, hospitalized at the Department of Cardiac Surgery of University Hospital at Hradec Králové prior to myocardial revascularization between 1986-1990. Based on their results, and in agreement with data of the literature, the authors recommend to perform non-invasive examination of the carotid arterial bed in all patients prior to myocardial revascularization and, based on the results of the examination, to follow a strictly individualized investigational and therapeutic algorithm.

Department of Cardiac Surgery University Hospital Hradec Králové Czech Republic