USPSTF recommends against screening healthy adults for carotid artery stenosis
The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has issued a new statement recommending against screening for carotid artery stenosis (CAS) among healthy adult patients with no prior history of transient ischemic attack or stroke and no symptoms of a blocked artery in the neck. The update mirrors what the USPSTF concluded when it last examined this issue back in 2014.
The USPSTF ultimately gave screening for CAS among healthy adults a “D” recommendation. The full recommendation statement was published in JAMA.
“The USPSTF uses the reaffirmation process for well-established, evidence-based standards of practice in current primary care practice for which only a very high level of evidence would justify a change in the grade of the recommendation,” according to the recommendation statement. “In its deliberation of the evidence, the USPSTF considers whether the new evidence is of sufficient strength and quality to change its previous conclusions about the evidence.”
After reviewing the latest research, the group decided it did not see any “new substantial evidence” that screening for CAS should now be recommended for the general adult population.
“The task force wants to help prevent people from having a stroke, but screening for CAS is not an effective way to do so,” USPSTF member Michael J. Barry, MD, said in an announcement. “Unfortunately, screening for CAS in adults without symptoms does more harm than good, and we continue to recommend against it.”
The recommendation statement ended with a call for additional research in this area. According to the USPSTF, more clinical trials are needed that examine the long-term impact of various treatment strategies for CAS. Better tools for determining an individual’s risk of CAS are also needed.
The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association have also recommended against screening for CAS among asymptomatic adult patients, the group observed.
The full recommendation statement can be read here.
Michael has more than 18 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.