Until the irruption of the Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy versus Stenting Trial (CREST), carotid stenting (CAS) has been mainly offered to those patients considered at "high risk" for open carotid endarterectomy (CEA) based on the available data from large randomized clinical trials. "High risk" has been defined as (1) patients with severe comorbidity (class III/IV congestive heart failure, class III/IV angina, coronary disease involving ≥ 2 major vessels, left ventricular ejection fraction ≤ 30%, myocardial infarction, severe pulmonary disease, severe renal failure) and (2) Technical/challenging anatomical criteria (previous neck surgery, cervical irradiation, contralateral carotid occlusion, post-endarterectomy restenosis, inaccessible lesions or tracheotomy). Several recent studies have called medical "high-risk" into question for CAS indication.