The five-year incidence of stroke and reintervention after carotid revascularisation is significantly higher among women than men regardless of treatment type, shows a study of more than 22,000 adults. 

Compared with symptomatic men, the risk for symptomatic women was 3% higher after carotid endarterectomy and 5% higher after carotid artery stenting, according to US researchers. 

The disparities were likely due to anatomical differences but were still “a cause for concern” given the widespread use of revascularisation techniques for treating carotid stenosis, they said.

“Women typically have a smaller internal carotid artery that is less compliant than men, which can predispose them to increased rate of technical errors, complications and stroke,” the authors wrote in Stroke: Vascular and Interventional Neurology.