Carotid Artery Disease Care

Your brain needs a good supply of oxygen-rich blood to function correctly. When anything narrows the blood vessels in your head and neck — fatty deposits (plaque), calcium or fibrous tissue — you have carotid artery disease.

Much like how coronary artery disease can cause a heart attack, carotid artery disease can cause a stroke. When you have reduced oxygen flow to your brain, your brain cells start to die. If your carotid arteries get too narrow — or a piece of plaque breaks off and blocks blood flow — you can have a stroke.

When your arteries narrow, it is called atherosclerosis. Risk factors linked to atherosclerosis include:

• Diabetes
• Diet high in saturated fat
• Family history
• Genetic factors
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Lack of exercise
• Male gender
• Older age
• Overweight
• Race
• Smoking

To protect your brain’s health, we need to know the exact spots where blood flow is slowing down. We use this information to give you the individualized care that you need.

Our team uses the most sophisticated, leading-edge diagnostic vascular testing tools to determine if you have carotid artery disease. By using advanced ultrasound tools, we can see which carotid arteries are narrow and how much plaque has already built up.

When treating your carotid artery disease, our priority is finding a way to improve your blood flow and prevent plaque buildup in your veins. We’ll start with medication therapy, such as blood thinners (anticoagulants) or blood pressure medications. If those don’t work, our highly skilled experts are trained in the most advanced traditional and minimally invasive procedures.

We will work with you to identify the treatment option that will work best for you.