Re-inflating balloon after carotid stenting appears to double risk of stroke

After reviewing outcomes from thousands of cases, researchers at Johns Hopkins report that patients with blocked neck arteries who undergo carotid stenting to prop open the narrowed blood vessels fare decidedly worse if their surgeons re-inflate a tiny balloon in the vessel after the mesh stent is in place.

Although the overall risk of stroke and death is low in patients who undergo carotid stenting, the common practice of