Carotid stenosis. A neurologist's perspective.
The initial step performed by neurologists in the evaluation of patients with potential carotid disease is to establish whether patients have had carotid territory symptoms. Symptoms are most often believed to be caused by emboli passing onto the cerebral circulation. Despite some limitations, conventional angiography remains the gold standard test to evaluate the carotid bifurcation. Because of the costs and risks of angiography, some combination of carotid duplex ultrasonography and MR angiography is chosen to select patients for angiography. Future research will focus on markers other than percent stenosis to assess stroke risk and treatments, such as angioplasty and stenting, for carotid lesions.
Wilterdink
J L
JL
Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Brown University School of Medicine, Rhode Island Hospital, Neurology Cerebrovascular Laboratory, Providence, Rhode Island 02903, USA.
Feldmann
E
E
D017130:Angioplasty; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D016893:Carotid Stenosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D002533:Cerebral Angiography / Q000191:economics; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D006801:Humans; D002542:Intracranial Embolism and Thrombosis / Q000175:diagnosis; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography; D009462:Neurology; D012307:Risk Factors; D015607:Stents; D018616:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Duplex