Arteriosclerosis / carotis artery   >> back to the newsletter overview

Calcification or even sclerosis up to an arterial occlusion will remain undetected (without symptoms) until reaching a critical limit. With first symptoms appearing, they will have reached such an advanced stage that “invasive” measures, by means of catheterization or surgery, have to be taken.

The following are some important examples: angina pectoris in the case of sclerosis of the coronary arteries, intermittent claudication due to diseases of the pelvic and leg arteries, TIA (neurologic dysfunctions remaining for hours that will cease again, but are always alarm signals for strokes with lasting damages) due to arteriosclerosis of the carotis artery.

It is especially about identifying low-degree changes in the arteries in good time to then be able to “prevent” the disease from worsening. That can be through medication, for instance.

This is about the carotis artery.

The artery lies close to the skin surface and can easily be reached with non-invasive diagnostic measures. Changes of the artery are considered to be indicators of the patient’s vascular risk.

What does vascular risk mean?

Many patients believe arteriosclerosis to be a passive process in which the calcification starts with sediments gathering on the inner side of the artery, comparable to sedimentation in water pipes. This is not true, though. It is much more of an active, inflammatory process starting from the several layers of the artery wall that leads to a swelling (like wood in water). The calcification is the end product of such inflammatory processes. Especially vascular risks facilitate them within the artery wall. These risks might be genetic (“familiar disposition”) and therefore unavoidable. They are, however, also caused by our lifestyle (smoking, lack of movement, high fat diet); even other diseases can be massive vascular risks having a strong impact (e.g. high blood pressure, diabetes, dyslipidemia).

How can the carotis artery be examined?

The artery can easily be examined in almost any case with modern ultrasound devices and respective high-resolution transducers. The carotis Doppler sonography has no side effects or radiation exposure. It does not need any contrast agent and takes roughly 15-20 minutes. The transducer is placed over the artery through a sound-conducting gel. The thickness of the artery wall is measured on the left and the right side (as precise as measuring a tenth of a millimeter!) as well as the blood flow velocity. The results will help judge the quality of the arterial system (also in other areas of the body). If any stenosis (plaques) is detected, the physician can immediately assess the stenosis degree and if the risk of a stroke is imminent.

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Who should be examined?

Patients with acute symptoms (unclarified dizziness, short neurologic dysfunctions or the like) as well as patients with known risk factors should be examined. What needs to be kept in mind in particular is that with several risk factors identified, the vascular risk increases disproportionally. This means that the risk of a vascular disease is higher than one would probably think. Let us give you an example: a 45-year old man and occasional smoker is stressed in his job and develops an increased blood pressure. He has no time for sports and tells about his father who had to get a first cardiac catheterization at the age of 59. There are 4 risk factors already having an impact although the patient only notices the high blood pressure.

What can we do for you?

Carotis Doppler sonography is done with a high-end ultrasound device. If substantial arterial changes of the carotis are found, we will also plan screenings of other vessels with you. If the arteries are already dangerously sclerotic (a significantly high stenosis degree), the necessary emergency measures will be taken in cooperation with Universitätsklinik Frankfurt or other clinics specialized in vascular surgery.

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