My vascular surgeon said the most apropriate stent for the
coratid was the non coated. The procedure was shockingly
simple. No drugs they wanted me alert durring the procedure
(what a bummer) they numb where they make the incision then
put the catheter in they map your artey to your neck with contrast then run th wire in they use the angioplasty baloon
to open the artey and expand the stent. I forgot they put a filter or basket above the blockage to catch any debris that might break loose. I did have to take plavix and asprin for 5
days be4 the surgery and continue for 1 month. The worst part was having to lay flat for 2 hours afterwards with pressure to
the incission for the 1st 30 minutes. Procedure on Fri. left hospital Sat. AM back a work on Mon. My age probably helped I am only 49 but I hope to get alot older. I am really healthy
other than Cancer and Coratid The insurance companies love that
line.

Brian,
I had the same procedure Sept 2008. After the 1st hour of lying flat or however long it took to make certain the incision had clotted, I was transferred to a room in ICU where I had to lie flat, absolutely still, no talking, no food, for another 8 to ten hours. I was allowed a bed pan. I was on some drug via IV to bring up the blood pressure. They want it high when you leave the hospital. I wound up having to stay an extra day because some idiot doctor decided I HAD to take my BP meds and lowered my BP too low.

After what we've been through, this procedure was a piece of cake. Just make certain you have a top notch surgeon. I am on plavix and 325 aspirin for life.

Take care,
Eileen

Watch Plavix. I was taking it and ended up with the left side full of blood under my skin.

Yeh Jim,
I'm not happy with this Plavix and asperin routine but cardiologist insists. Everytime nurse draws blood, I wind up with huge bruise on my arm where she grabs it to hold steady. I had a reaction to an antiobotic that resulted in a horrible headache and because of the plavix, the only thing I can take is extra strength tylenol. Didn't do a thing for it.

Take care,
Eileen

I asked my radiologist about narrowing of the coratid artery and she suggested that my PCP keep an eye on it. My risk was low due to having IMRT. My PCP listened to the artery and thought I was fine. When I brought it up to my ENT, he said he generally recommends a baseline ultrasound. I'm Not sure why one was never suggested to me. The baseline showed both arteries was fine. This was about 2 months ago and I'm three years past treatment this month. I think he said he'd do another ultrasound in five years.

On another note...The ultrasound showed something amiss with my thyroid and I needed to return for a thyroid scan. Turns out I have some nodules, which came back benign after a fine needle aspiration was performed. The thyroid doctor will just watch the nodules over the next few years to see if they change. Only downside is I added another doctor to my list!

Hi there,

My partner has started complaining of slight light headedness on standing from sitting and carotid bruit. Am hoping this could be stenosis and nothing more serious. What is the drill? I am supposing that it needs fairly quick diagnosis for someone to make an estimate of how blocked it is as a means to establish how urgent the need for surgery is. Is that correct? BTW which medical speciality deals with this?

Brian did you eventually proceed with having something done. In which case what procedure did you opt for and why and how did it go?

Thanks
Cathy

They will probably do ultrasound first for estimate if blockage is greater than 70Percent they will do arteriergram
then decide whether to put a stent in. None of this is very
invasive I had my stent in on Fri. one night in hospital back
at work on Mon. morning. I also had CAT between the ultrasound
and arteriergram I thought that was a little over kill on the test but I had no symtoms.

I still have issues, but I have put off having a stent done for now. I have a consultation with a cardiologist in November the purpose of which is to weigh the pros and cons of it all. I think that at some point in the future this is a must do for me, and while the procedure is simple, it is not without a complication rate.

But even with all that I have read about it in the literature, I don't think I am competent to judge my own situation right now. We'll see what the future holds. I have some other issues that are more pressing right now that I have to deal with first. I will post after the consultation, what I have learned about success rates, complications, the difference in occlusion from rads vs. poor diet for a protracted period, etc. For sure this issue is common in head and neck patients.

Thanks for responding Mentn an Brian and sorry you have other issues Brian. I hope all is ok and many congratulations on your award. Well deserved.
Cathy

ps thank goodness for this site. When Chaz first mentioned lightheadedness I thought nothing of it, but later remembered having posted on a thread about it with relation to his headaches. Will be interesting to see with this is something his regular ENT consultant is aware of. Feel we have not really been given much info about post treatment side effects. At least i feel I can push them to explore Carotid problems. He had a normal ultrasound on the whole of his neck about 2 months ago. Would a problem with his carotid show up on that or is it something they would have to be particularly looking for?
C