As with coronary artery stenting, activation and embolisation of platelets occurs with carotid artery stenting (CAS). Based on promising data on the use of clopidogrel plus aspirin in coronary stenting this dual antiplatelet regimen has been introduced as adjunctive treatment during CAS. There is as yet, however, no randomized controlled trial which compared different loading doses of clopidogrel during CAS. Taking into account that a wide interindividual variability in the response to a loading of clopidogrel exists, this study is intended to establish the optimal loading dose of clopidogrel. Therefore platelet function testing and a 1-hour of postprocedural TCD (transcranial doppler) monitoring will be performed. Objective: Firstly, to investigate whether the absolute magnitude of Platelet Inhibition inversely correlates with the number of TCD-detected microemboli during and after CAS in patients who are being pre-treated with either a 300 mg or a 600 mg loading dose of clopidogrel. Secondly, if there is any impact on early neurological outcome determined by the loading dose of clopidogrel.
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The number of TCD-detected microemboli during and immediately after the CAS procedure.
The absolute level of platelet inhibition