Health & Disease Info
All You Wanted to Know About ... Carotid Artery Disease

What is the Carotid Artery?
The carotid artery is the main artery that supplies blood to the brain. It is located within the muscles on either side of your neck. At about the level of the jaw, the artery divides (bifurcates) into two braches. One of the braches (external) carries blood to the muscles of the face, tongue, scalp and other structures outside the skull. The other branch (internal) carries blood directly to the brain.

What is Carotid Artery Disease?
Carotid artery disease is hardening of the arteries to the brain. As the vessel is narrowed by plaque, the amount of blood flowing to the brain is lessened. The blood has to flow through a tighter blood vessel and consequently the flow is faster. Craters or ulcerations can occur within the plaque. 

What Symptoms are Caused by Carotid Artery Disease?
Rarely, a person can have spells of "dizziness" or "confusion" due to decreased blood flow to the brain. This is not likely to occur because other vessels take over getting blood to the brain.

An ulcerated plaque can have platelets clump in the crater and form blood clots. If a small blood clot breaks off, it can possibly block blood flow to the brain. This is an embolus. A small embolus can cause temporary symptoms such as numbness or tingling of an arm or leg, a visual sensation of a cloud or curtain coming down over one eye, or speech difficulty. There is no death of brain tissue. These are called TIA's (transient Ischemic Attacks). A large embolus that blocks a larger artery and deprives the brain of blood supply for a longer period of time causes more exaggerated symptoms. The result is death of brain tissue in the specific area and is termed a stroke.

What Should You do if You have Experienced any of These Symptoms?
See your doctor promptly. He or she will discuss your symptoms and evaluate you. A simple and highly accurate examination can be done called an ultrasound. This is done in either a vascular lab or at the hospital. Images of carotid artery and measurements of the blood flow are used to determine the presence of plaque and how significant it may be.

What Can Be Done?
Treatment will depend upon the symptoms and degree to which the artery is narrowed. Surgical intervention is not indicated for a moderate degree of narrowing; however, if symptoms have occurred, surgery may be recommended. Significant narrowing even without symptoms may also call for surgical intervention.