what they said (Hover the mouse cursor over underlined words for more info)

Some people who are at risk of stroke may have a less invasive option to surgery, a large North American study suggests.

The Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy Versus Stenting Trial - or CREST - involved 2,509 patients at risk of stroke who were randomly assigned to two stroke procedures and then were followed for as long as four years...

The original article can be found at: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/05/26/stroke-stents.html

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what we said (Hover the mouse cursor over underlined words for more info)

This is excellent reporting of a study that examined two ways to prevent stroke- surgical clearing of plaque from the carotid artery and carotid artery stenting. The good use of absolute numbers, and the quantification of harms (future strokes) makes it relatively clear that each procedure carries some level of risk and that neither procedure seems to be overwhelmingly better than the other.

The story would have benefited from some information on the cost of the procedure (surgery vs. stenting) and some indication of how many people in Canada would be affected by these research findings.That being said, this story reaches a standard that few do as it not only explains the quality of the evidence but also explains the magnitude of the benefits.

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