ACST-2: Asymptomatic Carotid Surgery Trial - 2

Asymptomatic Carotid Surgery Trial-2 studies the effects of carotid endarterectomy (CEA) and carotid artery stenting (CAS) in the treatment of asymptomatic carotid stenosis. ACST-2 is a large, simple, international, randomised trial of CEA versus CAS that aims to randomise at least 5000 patients and compare both the immediate hazards of the two procedures and the long term stroke rates over the next 5 to 10 years. For further information see http://www.acst.org.uk/.

Resource use data will be collected for every UK trial participant and health-related quality of life data for participants in the top recruiting countries. The initial output of the economic analyses will be the short-term impact of interventions on resource use and health related quality of life at 30 days following the trial procedures. The long-term outcomes and costs will be evaluated and a full economic analysis reporting additional costs per life-year and per health related quality-adjusted life-year gained will also be developed, using a decision analytic model developed from individual patient trial data and external data to extrapolate future health related events, mortality and costs. The potential for variation in cost-effectiveness across patient subgroups will be studied.