Analysis of the acute systemic and tissue inflammatory response following carotid endarterectomy.

Background: We aimed to investigate the acute systemic and tissue inflammatory response associated with carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and analyze the association between serum and tissue biomarkers and histological features of carotid plaques between symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.

Methods: We studied 11 patients (6 symptomatic and 5 asymptomatic) with ≥70% internal carotid stenosis treated with CEA. Serum expression of interleukin (IL) 1β, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, metalloproteinase (MMP) 8, MMP-9, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were measured in the preoperative period and 1, 6 and 24 hours after CEA.