Surgical Treatment of Subclavian-Artery Occlusions

Abstract

CEREBROVASCULAR insufficiency due to subclavian-artery occlusion is more frequent, more simply diagnosed and more easily treated than generally recognized. Only recently has attention been focused on this condition, chiefly since the description of the "subclavian steal syndrome" in 1961. Physicians who treat patients with cerebrovascular disease should become familiar with this diagnosis, since in selected cases, dramatic relief of symptoms can be obtained from arterial reconstructive surgery.The current article reviews a five-year personal experience with the management of 22 patients with occlusions of the subclavian artery. Nine patients were not deemed sufficiently symptomatic to warrant surgery and have been . . .