The combination of severe carotid artery disease and coronary artery disease (CAD) is usually treated by one of three approaches, but a Cleveland Clinic study found that patients who underwent stenting of the carotid artery followed by open-heart surgery experienced the best outcomes. That approach was shown to present fewer risks than the combination of carotid endarterectomy and open heart surgery-either done at the same time as the endarterectomy or a few weeks later. Endartectomy is a surgical procedure in which a blocked carotid artery is opened and the plaque in the artery is removed.
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