Hello and welcome to the Zero to Finals podcast.

My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be talking to you about carotid artery stenosis.

And you can find written notes on this topic at zero tofinals.com slash carotid artery stenosis

or in the vascular surgery section of the zero

de finals surgery book. So let's get straight into it. Carotid artery stenosis refers to

narrowing of the carotid arteries in the neck, usually secondary to atherosclerosis.

Plaques build up in the carotid arteries, reducing the diameter of the lumen.

There is a risk of parts of the plaque breaking away and becoming an embellus,

travelling to the brain and causing an embolic stroke.

The risk factors for developing carotid artery stenosis are the same as for

atherosclerosis and arterial disease in other areas, such as age, male sex, smoking,

hypertension, poor diet, reduced physical activity, and raised cholesterol.

Patients who have a transient ischemic attack or a stroke are, activity and raised cholesterol.

Patients who have a transient ischemic attack or a stroke are investigated for carotid artery stenosis, usually with a carotid ultrasound scan.

Patients with carotid artery stenosis are very likely to have arterial disease and

atherosclerosis elsewhere.

They're at a high risk of coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction, or heart attacks.

Let's talk about the classification.

The severity of carotid artery stenosis is categorized as mild when there's less than a 50% reduction

in diameter, moderate when there's a 50 to 69% reduction in diameter, and severe when there's a 70% or more

reduction in diameter. Next let's talk about the presentation.

Carotid artery stenosis is usually asymptomatic with no symptoms.

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