Carotid Artery Stenosis Ultrasound Diagnosis

Carotid artery stenosis is a narrowing of the large arteries on either side of the neck that carry blood to the head, face, and brain. This narrowing is caused by a build-up of plaque called atherosclerosis. Over time Stenosis can advance to completely block the artery which may lead to stroke.

Early diagnosis and treatment of a narrowed carotid artery can decrease stroke risk.

Carotid artery stenosis is usually diagnosed by color flow Doppler ultrasound scan of the carotid arteries in the neck. This involves no radiation, no needles, and no contrast agents that may cause allergic reactions. This test has good sensitivity and specificity.

Therefore, Ultrasound carotid stenosis is the most common diagnostic technique that evaluates blood flow through a blood vessel. It is most frequently used to screen patients for blockage or narrowing of the carotid arteries.

Which Ultrasound Scanner is the best for treating the Carotid artery stenosis?

Arterial stenosis should preferably be assessed using color Doppler ultrasound 3in1-CLC2CD to capture images of the arterial wall in longitudinal and transverse planes.

The 3in1-CLC2CD includes convex(90-305 mm depth), linear(20-80 mm depth), and cardiac(90-160 mm depth) scan modes in the same probe. In which there is no need to change the probe head. This can be done by simply changing the software. SONOSIF’s engineering team developed this portable ultrasound machine in a way for it to be easy and convenient to use.

Thanks to its lower frequency (3.5-5 MHz) the probe allows the practitioner to make PW measurements. To accurately and precisely diagnose not only the blood flow velocity but also echo-cardiograms in general ( for eg: FOCUS, transthoracic echo TTE ..). Actually, it serves as the perfect Ultrasound machine in any medical facility.

Longitudinal images may be difficult to capture in some patients, and in such cases, it may be useful to obtain a coronal projection of the artery by placing the transducer behind the sternocleidomastoid (SCM).

Viewing the arterial wall is a means of measuring carotid intima-media thickness and determining if and where atheromatous plaque may be present.

Thus, the Doppler Ultrasound scan is safe and painless. It is the only investigation required for decision making in carotid stenosis as it is widely available and rapidly performed.

Plus, Vascular imaging techniques used to diagnose carotid stenosis have advanced considerably in recent years, especially ultrasound imaging. Although different expert consensus groups have attempted to set down criteria for diagnosing and quantifying carotid stenosis using ultrasound, they do not agree on which Hemodynamic parameters should be used.