Suggest Treatment For Blockage In Right And Left Carotid Artery

Posted on Tue, 20 May 2014

Question: My husband is 70 yrs old. He had a quadruple bypass and valve repair in Oct 2011. He now has 90% blockage in right carotid and greater than 80% in left. What way should we follow to correct this. He has 53 as DLDL, normal blood pressure (120 or less), triglycerides of 26, takes low dose aspirin everyday. Should he have CEA or just wait and watch??

Answered by Dr. Priyanka (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Wait & watch.

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

Thank you for asking your query.

Since your husband is elderly yet he has no complaints presently, after going through his history I will advise you to go for Doppler scan of neck arteries, magnetic resonance angiography(MRA) or computed tomography angiography(CTA) to see any carotid artery stenosis.

Be in touch with your cardiologist, wait & watch.

Your next question is whether you should go for CEA or not?

CEA is a procedure done to prevent the adverse sequelae of carotid artery stenosis secondary to atherosclerotic disease and it is also done as a prophylactic procedure to protect the individual from stroke. As with any prophylactic procedure careful evaluation of relative benefits and risks of the procedure is required on an individual patient basis.

Your husband has previous history of quadruple bypass & valve repair so I would like to advise you to consult his cardiologist as well. Till then you can wait & watch for appearance of any symptoms like chest pain or any discomfort.

I hope I have answered all your questions, if you have any doubt I will be happy to help you.

wish your husband good health.

Take care.

Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Yogesh D