Medknow Publications on behalf of Association of Surgeons of India
Abstract
Objectives: The aims of the clinic were to offer suitable patients
carotid endarterectomy with minimal delay, to discuss patients with
unclear symptoms and to offer the best advice to patients referred with
asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis. Design: A retrospective note
review of all the patients who attended the clinic over a two-year
period between January 1997 and December 1998 was undertaken. A
pro-forma was completed. Participants: Three hundred and ninety-nine
patients who were seen in the joint clinic for investigations of
cerebrovascular disease. Main outcome measures: Waiting time for
specialist consultations and treatment. Results: During that period
118 new patients and 281 follow-up patients were seen in the clinic.
Colour flow Doppler was performed on 102 new patients and 113 follow-up
patients. Digital Subtraction Angiography was used in selected patients
(16). Sixty -six patients had combined consultations. Twenty-nine
(24.6%) patients were assessed and discharged from the clinic on their
first consultation. Seventy-three (62%) patients were listed for
carotid endarterectomy. The mean waiting time from referral to
consultation was 2.6 weeks and from consultation to surgical treatment
was 4.7 weeks. Both these waiting times were significantly better than
the waiting times before the joint cerebrovascular neurology clinic was
set up. Conclusion: The combined clinic provided an appropriate
environment for one-stop rapid assessment and treatment of patients
with preventable stroke
