In Interventional Radiography we've been learning about Carotid Artery Stenosis. This is a narrowing of the carotid artery, usually because of artherosclerosis (fat/cholesterol buildup in the blood vessels). The big danger of carotid stenosis is an ischemic stroke, or transient ischemic attacks. A stent can be placed in the artery(s) that is blocked, or if it's too blocked, surgical endarterectomy can scrape the blockage out of the artery. The picture above shows the carotid artery being cut into by a surgeon.
The picture below is a 3D rendering (CT) of cartoid stenosis. The artery itself isn't narrowed, just the blood flow is narrowed so it appears thinned when it's reconstructed. The last picture is an MRI of the carotids.
No comments:
Post a Comment