Biobank of Karolinska Endarterectomy

Patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy at the Department of Vascular Surgery, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden are consecutively and prospectively included in the Biobank of Karolinska Endarterectomies (BiKE, established in 2002, close to 2000 patients) and their clinical data is recorded upon admission. Symptomatic patients are categorized as minor stroke (MS), transient ischemic attack (TIA), or amaurosis fugax (AF) and patients without qualifying symptoms within 6 months prior to surgery are considered asymptomatic. Individual data for death, major adverse cardio- and cerebro-vascular events (MACCEs), comorbidities and blood parameters are periodically extracted from the national registries, patient charts and BiKE database. Carotid endarterectomies and blood are collected during surgery and retained within BiKE. Plaques are divided transversally at the most stenotic part and the proximal half of the plaque is used for various omics analysis, as well as plasma and PBMCs. The distal half is fixed in 4% zinc-formaldehyde and processed for histology. The use of human samples and data from BiKE is approved by the Ethical Committee of North Stockholm and follows the guidelines of the Declaration of Helsinki. All human samples are collected with informed consent from patients or organ donors’ guardians.