Our meta-analysis demonstrated no significant difference in angiographic and clinical outcomes among series that performed standard poststent angioplasty and those that performed poststent angioplasty in only select patients.
W e would like to thank Drs Pelz and Lownie for their interest in our article. 1 The literature search for this study was designed to include all studies published through January 2015, before the publication of their article titled "Plaque Morphology (the PLAC Scale) on CT Angiography: Predicting Long-Term Anatomical Success of Primary Carotid Stenting." 2 We have read with interest their article and believe it is a valuable read for those involved in carotid stent placement procedures. In their article, the authors reported that stent placement, without angioplasty, of soft plaques (ie, those with no or minimal calcification) can result in good long-term anatomic outcomes. On the other hand, carotid plaques that are heavily calcified require angioplasty and stent placement or carotid endartectomy for good anatomic results. We thank the authors for their valuable contribution to the literature and look forward to seeing more of their work.
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