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UCLA Health - Carotid Artery Disease & Stroke Angioplasty - Dr. May Nour | UCLAMDChat

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Author: UCLA Health
Categories: Health
Tags: health
Views: 2 · Last viewed: 2026-10-16 15:02 UTC

Short Summary

Main recommendation: If you have suspected carotid artery disease or warning symptoms such as sudden vision loss in one eye, get evaluated, and treat modifiable risk factors (smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, uncontrolled diabetes, obesity) to slow progression, with angioplasty and stenting offered as a less invasive option when medical management is not enough. Dr. May Nour, an interventional neuroradiologist and neurologist at UCLA Health, explains how carotid narrowing from plaque raises stroke risk and how the endovascular treatment works.

Key Points

  • Carotid arteries run on each side of the neck and supply oxygen to the brain, face, and scalp; plaque buildup narrows them and can cause stroke when fragments block vessels in the brain.
  • Carotid disease accounts for about 10 to 20 percent of strokes, according to the speaker, and about half of patients who had carotid-related strokes had warning symptoms beforehand.
  • Some risk factors cannot be changed (genetics), but smoking, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, uncontrolled diabetes, obesity, and prior radiation to the neck damage vessels and can drive progression.
  • Transient or permanent vision loss in one eye (described as a curtain or blind coming down) is often the first sign, because plaque or clot fragments can temporarily block the vessel feeding the eye.
  • Diagnosis uses carotid ultrasound (blood flow speed), MR angiogram, or CT angiogram to find narrowing.
  • Endovascular angioplasty and stenting is the less invasive alternative to carotid endarterectomy, which the speaker did not discuss in detail.

Details Worth Noting

Concrete instructions:

  • Recognize stroke signs with the FAST acronym: Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, and Time to call 9-1-1. The BE FAST version adds Balance problems (B) and Eye or vision problems (E).
  • Work with your doctor on lifestyle changes: eat better, exercise, reduce weight, stop smoking, and, if diabetic, control blood sugar.
  • Medical management when lifestyle is not enough includes statin medication to control cholesterol and medication to control blood pressure.
  • For stenting, patients take blood thinners, typically aspirin and clopidogrel (Plavix). Clopidogrel is usually continued for about three to six months, and most people stay on aspirin lifelong, per the speaker.
  • The procedure is done in an angiography suite under x-ray guidance, usually entering through the femoral artery in the leg or through a wrist or arm artery.
  • During stenting, a protection device (called a "spider" in the example) is placed like an umbrella to catch plaque, a balloon is inflated to crack open the plaque, and a metal mesh stent is deployed to keep the vessel open.
  • The speaker states that in the US almost 800,000 people have a stroke per year, and someone has a stroke every 40 seconds.

Bottom Line

Carotid disease is a treatable cause of stroke: spotting early warning signs like sudden one-eye vision loss, controlling risk factors, and discussing options such as stenting with a specialist can reduce danger before a stroke occurs.