Treatment of the Carotid Artery in the Neck with Stents
Carotid artery stenosis is a disease that affects the neck and may be due to many causes, such as atherosclerosis and fat accumulation; Which affects the neck area and causes serious health complications to the body. What is carotid artery stenosis? What are the ways to treat carotid artery stenosis in the neck with stents? Who is the best vascular surgeon in Egypt?
What are the carotid arteries and what are their function?
The carotid arteries are the blood vessels located on both sides of the neck, and their main function is to deliver blood to the brain and head.
What is carotid artery disease?
Carotid artery disease is caused by Arteriosclerosis, which occurs for several reasons, including the accumulation of fats, cholesterol, cell residues, proteins and calcium on the walls of the arteries and blockage of the blood flow.
With aging, these fatty deposits appear and represent a great danger to the blood vessels, especially the carotid artery, which is being narrowed; And in turn leads to more serious complications, including strokes.
The main causes that contribute to carotid artery occlusion:
The first step in treating carotid artery stenosis is to know the causes and factors that lead to carotid artery occlusion. Carotid stenosis occurs for several reasons:
• Accumulation of fatty deposits on the walls of the carotid arteries that carry blood to the brain, and this fatty deposits accumulation has many complications, the most dangerous of all, increasing the chance of strokes due to the lack of normal blood flow to the brain cells.
• Severe complications can also occur, including the death of brain cells due to the lack of oxygen reaching them properly and naturally, and the danger of the narrowing of the carotid artery lies in its slow development, until the first symptoms of this disease occur, which is what is medically known as a transient ischemic attack, which is a lack of blood flow to the brain temporarily.
The above complications occur as a result of many factors that contribute to the occurrence of this disease and even its exacerbation.
Risk factors for carotid artery occlusion:
Hypertension:
Patients with hypertension are most likely to develop a carotid artery occlusion.
Smoking:
Nicotine is a substance that irritates the lining or inner wall of the arteries, increases the heart rate per minute and leads to hypertension.
Diabetes:
Diabetes leads to a reduction in the process of reducing fats in the blood; Which increases its accumulation on the walls of the arteries and blood vessels.
Hypercholesterolemia:
It is one of the main factors that lead to arteriosclerosis, due to the accumulation of this high percentage of fats on the walls of the arteries and blood vessels.
Obesity:
Excess weight and the desire to eat foods rich in fats and carbohydrates are among the main risks that increase the percentage of triglycerides and their accumulation in the blood and on the walls of blood vessels.
Aging:
Elderly people are more likely to develop an occlusion in the carotid artery; Hence, exposure to its complications.
Lack of exercise:
Exercising and doing daily activities are necessary to burn fat and reduce the chances of various diseases; Therefore, people who exercise regularly are less likely to have a carotid artery occlusion.
Genetic factors:
The risk of developing carotid artery stenosis increases with previous family history of the same disease.
Carotid artery occlusion risks and complications:
Stroke is one of the most important complications that may occur as a result of carotid artery occlusion, which causes damage to brain cells and muscle weakness. It is classified as an emergency, but it occurs in no more than 20% of cases suffering from carotid artery occlusion disease.
The patient may suffer a stroke due to some factors, including:
• Blood clot: A stroke occurs when plaques are formed on the walls of the carotid artery.
• Ruptured plaques: Accumulated plaques can break off and flow into smaller arteries within the brain, leading to a blockage that stops the blood flow to a large part of the brain's cells.
• Decreased blood flow: the carotid artery suffers from narrowing and therefore the blood does not reach the brain enough.
Signs of the stroke include:
• Sudden numbness or weakness in the face or the limbs of one side of the body.
• Sudden difficulty in speaking and understanding.
• Sudden difficulty in the vision for one or both eyes.
• Sudden loss of balance.
• Sudden severe headache with no known cause.
Medical Examination:
When the patient feel the symptoms of carotid artery stenosis, he must visit the best vascular surgeon, Dr. Hossam El-Mahdy, Professor of Vascular Surgery at Cairo University. The vascular surgeon also relies on angiography through ultrasound to see the extent of damage from the occlusion of the carotid artery.
How is carotid occlusive disease treated?
Carotid artery stenosis is treated through the following steps:
Drug therapy:
There are some medications that treat platelet accumulation, which the doctor relies on to treat the symptoms of carotid artery stenosis, and they are anticoagulants that work to dilute the blood and thus prevent blood clots.
Lifestyle change:
In order to treat carotid artery stenosis, doctors recommend several tips to their patients such as:
• Quit smoking completely because it is one of the factors that lead to carotid artery stenosis.
• Regular follow-up with your doctor.
• Doing exercise on a regular daily basis for a period of not less than half an hour.
• Avoid alcoholic beverages.
• Applying the necessary medical examinations and tests, such as blood lipid test to measure its percentage, in order to treat the accumulated fat so that the levels of harmful fats (LDL cholesterol) reach a level of less than 100.
• Eating more healthy foods such as vegetables and fruits, and reducing the intake of foods rich in triglycerides.
Therapeutic actions:
Carotid artery occlusion treatment aims to restore normal blood flow to the head. In the past, the doctor would remove the damaged part of the lining through an incision in the neck, and then remove the fatty deposits from the artery.
The development in the use of catheters in many medical fields made it possible to rely on the placement and fixation of the stent in order to dilate the carotid artery, to give the same result as resection, or even better, as it has several advantages such as the speed of recovery of the patient and the practice of his life normally within one week.
Carotid artery stenosis in the neck is treated with stent placement by inserting a catheter into the artery and passing it to the carotid artery, using a guide wire. Then a filter is placed after the area of the blockage, to protect the brain from clots reaching it during the dilation process, as the filter allows blood to cross into the brain but prevents clots from crossing, and then the blockage is opened through a balloon, leaving the stent and fixing it to keep the artery open.
We would like to explain to you, dear reader, that the treatment of carotid artery occlusion can be achieved with great success in non-surgical and guaranteed steps with Dr. Hossam El-Mahdy, the best in the field of vascular surgeries.
The Merge between Experience and Skills in perfect proportions is the reason of Prof. Dr. Hossam El-Mahdy's success, and that is exactly what he presents to you through his proven surgical excellence, to allow you to have healthy blood vessels.
