Carotid artery disease

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Displaying 1-1 out of 1 doctors available

Last Name Initial: W

  1. Lindsy N. Williams, M.D.

    Lindsy N. Williams, M.D.

    1. Neurologist
    1. Jacksonville, FL
    Areas of focus:

    Telestroke, Stroke, Arteriovenous malformation, Brain aneurysm, Transient ischemic attack, Subarachnoid hemorrhage, Cer...ebrovascular disease, Venous malformation, Carotid artery disease, Dural arteriovenous fistula, Brain AVM, Intracranial hematoma, Subdural hemorrhage, Spinal arteriovenous malformation, Cavernous malformations, Moyamoya disease, Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia, Central nervous system vascular malformations, Intracranial venous malformation, Intracranial hemorrhage, Giant cell arteritis, Takayasu's arteritis, Brain hemorrhage, CADASIL, Cerebral microbleeds, Subdural hematoma, Antiphospholipid syndrome, Small vessel white matter disease, Vascular dementia, Binswanger's disease, Central nervous system arteritis, Arteritis, Cerebral amyloid angiopathy, Venous angioma, Basilar artery stenosis, Venous thrombosis, Basilar dissection, Vertebral artery blockage, Vertebral artery dissection, Vertebral artery stenosis, Vertebrobasilar insufficiency, Carotid bruit, Intracerebral hemorrhage, Amaurosis fugax, Cavernous hemangioma, Carotid dissection

Research

Mayo Clinic researchers are working to improve the diagnosis and treatment of carotid artery disease. Efforts include evaluating treatment options for carotid artery disease that has no symptoms and surgical ways of treating carotid artery disease that has symptoms. Researchers also look at which techniques offer the best outcomes in light of advances in medical therapy and surgical techniques.

Mayo researchers were involved in the multicenter Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy versus Stenting Trial (CREST), which defined treatment protocols and compared outcomes of the two procedures.

Mayo Clinic is now the clinical coordinating center for the ongoing CREST2 trial, which is designed to compare three different methods of stroke prevention to find the safest and most effective treatment for patients with narrowing of their carotid arteries. Related work assessing CREST data yields insights into the effectiveness of patching during endarterectomy procedures.

CREST Trial

Vivien Williams: Carotid artery disease increases your risk of stroke. Plaque builds up in the arteries in the neck, and if some breaks away, it could travel to your brain and cut off blood flow. But results of a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine give doctors the information they need to choose the best preventive procedures for their patients.

It's called the CREST Trial — Carotid Revascularization Endarterectomy versus Stent Trial. What that means is researchers tested open surgery versus stenting of the carotid artery to see which procedure was best at opening blockages and preventing stroke. Findings show that open surgery and stenting are equally safe and effective at preventing stroke, except for people over the age of 80.

Albert Hakaim, M.D.—Mayo Clinic vascular surgery: Based on the CREST Trial for patients who are older and the majority of vascular patients are older, carotid endarterectomy is superior to stentings.

Vivien Williams: Dr. Albert Hakaim says, people over 80 who have stents placed to open blockages in their carotid arteries have a higher risk of stroke after treatment than those who had the open operation. But if you're younger, both procedures are equally beneficial.

You see, blockages happen after years of plaque buildup on the artery walls. If a piece breaks off, it could flow to the brain and cut off blood supply, causing stroke. Here's a comparison of the two procedures.

First, the standard operation. With the patient under general anesthesia, Dr. Hakaim makes an incision in the neck to expose the carotid artery which carries blood to the face and brain. Then he inserts a temporary shunt to reroute blood so they can work on the artery. Next, he opens the artery lengthwise, removes plaque, and closes the incision.

Stenting is less invasive. With the patient having local anesthesia, Dr. Hakaim advances a catheter through the femoral artery in the leg up to the blockage. Just above it, he places a tiny umbrella shaped device to make sure that if the pieces of plaque break off they don't flow to the brain. Then he deploys the stent, which is pushed into place by a balloon. The stent opens the artery and crushes the plaque against the artery wall.

Albert Hakaim, M.D.: So here's the common carotid artery. And this is where the artery branches, so this branch goes to the face. This was the narrowing. This is the stent before the angioplasty.

Vivien Williams: Two procedures, both safe and effective at preventing stroke in the right groups of patients. The CREST Trial is important, because stroke is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. and the number one cause of disability. Now doctors can be more certain that the procedures they do for their patients will reduce the risk of stroke. For Medical Edge, I'm Vivien Williams.

Mayo clinicians also are working to advance ultrasound evaluation of carotid plaque characteristics, to better identify plaques with higher stroke risk based on sonography.

Publications

See a list of publications on carotid artery disease by Mayo Clinic doctors on PubMed, a service of the National Library of Medicine.

By Mayo Clinic Staff

Carotid artery disease care at Mayo Clinic

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Diagnosis & treatmentCare at Mayo Clinic
April 19, 2023
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Carotid artery disease

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Joseph Sirven, M.D., Professor of Neurology, Mayo Clinic: Mayo's mission is about the patient. The patient comes first. So the mission and research here is to advance how we can best help the patient, how to make sure the patient comes first in care. So in many ways, it's a cycle. It can start with as simple as an idea worked on in a laboratory, brought to the patient bedside, and if everything goes right — and let's say it's helpful or beneficial — then brought on as a standard approach. And I think that is one of the unique characteristics of Mayo's approach to research — that patient-centeredness — that really helps to put it in its own spotlight.