Your carotid arteries are key suppliers of blood to a very important organ – your brain. When plaque builds up, narrowing the passageways, it results in a condition called carotid artery stenosis, which can lead to stroke. Rishi Gupta, MD, of Cleveland Clinic’s Cerebrovascular Center, talks about this serious condition.
How does someone develop carotid artery stenosis?
Carotid artery stenosis develops in patients with risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and a history of smoking. These risk factors can lead to a buildup of plaque, otherwise known as atherosclerosis.
Describe the typical patient
This disease typically affects older patients and is more common in men. The typical patient is an individual who is older than 65 years of age with a history of smoking, hypertension, elevated cholesterol levels and diabetes.
How many people nationwide have this condition?
There are roughly 750,000 stroke victims each year in the United States, and roughly 20 percent of those patients have a carotid artery blockage as a cause of their stroke.
What are the symptoms?
To detect carotid artery stenosis, it’s important to recognize the warning signs of a stroke or transient ischemic attack, also known as a mini-stroke. Typical signs are difficulty speaking, loss of vision, trouble moving half your body, trouble walking or numbness on one side of your body. If you develop these symptoms, you should call 911 and come to the emergency room as soon as possible.
Is carotid stenosis related to other conditions?
Patients with carotid artery stenosis are at risk for developing atherosclerosis in other blood vessels. As part of the evaluation for carotid artery stenosis, patients are examined and assessed for the risk of blockages in other blood vessels.
If left untreated, what are the potential results of carotid stenosis?
Carotid artery stenosis is a risk factor for the development of an ischemic stroke based on the degree of narrowing. The risk of stroke is assessed based on the age of the patient, the degree of narrowing and other health issues that may be ongoing. A full assessment of these risks is made in conjunction with your physician to determine the appropriate treatment options. Additionally, your physician will discuss in detail the risk factors associated with the development of carotid artery stenosis and help to reduce your chances of a stroke. In certain cases, if the degree of narrowing is severe, surgical or endovascular treatments are offered in order to reduce the blockage in the artery.
What are the specific treatment options?
There are currently two treatment options for carotid artery stenosis. The first is an open surgical technique called carotid endarterectomy. With this surgery, the blockage is removed from the artery. The recovery time is short. In some instances, when patients have medical conditions that may make the surgery higher risk, a less invasive approach called carotid artery stenting can be performed. This procedure is performed from the leg and a catheter is placed into the carotid artery. Through the catheter a stent is placed across the narrowing to reopen the blood vessel.
©Copyright 1995-2008 The Cleveland Clinic Foundation. All rights reserved
Can't find the health information you’re looking for? Ask a Health Educator, Live!
Know someone who could use this information?....send them this link.
This article appears in the Health Extra Newsletter. For other articles or for more information about Health Extra, Click Here.
Click here to go to the Neurological Institute Web site.
To read more about this and related topics, see: Carotid Artery Disease
Carotid Artery Disease and Stroke
This information is provided by the Cleveland Clinic and is not intended to replace the medical advice of your doctor or health care provider. Please consult your health care provider for advice about a specific medical condition. For additional written health information, please contact the Health Information Center at the Cleveland Clinic 216.444.3771 or toll-free 800.223.2273 extension 43771 or visit www.clevelandclinic.org/health/.
This document was last reviewed on: 4/1/2008...index#14133
