Carotid stenosis patients increased by 50% over 5 years...Blood vessels to the brain, no symptoms until half blocked
Dec 25, 2024
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With the help of Professor Lee Il-hyung of the Department of Neurology at Gangdong Kyunghee University Hospital, we summarized carotid artery stenosis.
◇Vascular congestion of carotid artery stenosis to the brain...50% increase in patients over 5 years
Carotid artery stenosis refers to narrowing of the carotid artery due to various causes. The number of patients with carotid stenosis continues to increase, increasing by more than 50% over the past five years.
According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the number of patients who received hospital treatment for carotid artery stenosis (closing and narrowing of the carotid artery I652) was 143,309 in 2023, up from 92,853 in 2019.
Professor Lee Il-hyung explained "As the number of chronically ill patients increases due to the aging population, vascular damage is increasing, and carotid artery stenosis is also increasing."
◇ Chronic disease, smoking, eating habits, lack of exercise, obesity risk factors
The most common cause of carotid artery stenosis is 'arterial atherosclerosis'.
Arterial atherosclerosis is named after a phenomenon in which high viscosity cholesterol lipid components accumulate in arteries and narrow blood vessels. Chronic diseases such as diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and high blood pressure, or smoking, bad eating habits, lack of exercise, and obesity are known as risk factors. In particular, diabetes and hyperlipidemia can cause microscopic damage to blood vessels or secretion of inflammatory substances, resulting in narrowing of blood vessels. Also, smoking a lot can worsen the shape or degree of arteriosclerosis, so you must quit smoking.
◇If blood vessels are blocked more than 50%, active treatment is required
Symptoms of cerebral infarction can occur if the carotid artery is blocked by more than 50%.
Pronunciation abnormalities, paralysis of limbs, visual impairment, and speech impairment. Severe cases can lead to death as well as brain dysfunction caused by cerebral infarction. The problem is that many patients have no special symptoms even if their blood vessels are blocked more than half.
Initial diagnosis is difficult because there are no symptoms, and even if it is found, the treatment time is often missed because there are no symptoms. Early screening is important because you don't know when and how symptoms will appear if the stenosis worsens, and if it is detected, treatment should be decided through consultation with a specialist.
Carotid artery stenosis is evaluated to require active treatment from a medical point of view if more than 50% of the blood vessels are blocked. In patients with cerebral infarction, if the carotid artery has narrowed by more than 50%, it may be the subject of carotid stentectomy. If a patient has no symptoms but accidentally discovered a narrowed carotid artery through examination, if the carotid artery is more than 70% instead of 50%, it is subject to consideration for carotid stenturgery, and a review process is needed through additional vascular imaging.
◇ If it is tight, treatment such as thrombotic stent insertion is required
Even if a patient with cerebral infarction has already occurred, if the degree of carotid artery stenosis does not exceed 50%, it is usually focused on drug treatment. This is because the risk of these patients is somewhat greater than the benefits of the procedure. However, patients with carotid artery stenosis exceeding 50% along with cerebral infarction may be subject to stent implantation, which widens the narrowed blood vessels.
Overseas, there are relatively many cases of removing blocked blood vessels through direct surgery rather than simple procedures, and due to the sentiment of Korea, people are reluctant or worried about surgery, so treatment is mainly carried out through procedures.
However, if the artery is firmly calcified and hardened beyond narrowing, the only option may be to remove the area through surgery. However, if the stenosis is too broad or irregular in shape, surgery may not be possible if the neck is too short or if the stenosis is too high.
◇Healthy eating habits, smoking cessation, brain examination required
Carotid artery stenosis can suddenly spread to fatal diseases such as stroke even if there are no symptoms, so it is important to manage blood vessel health steadily.
First, it is recommended to block risk factors through healthy eating habits and smoking cessation. In addition, if you are currently in your 40s and 50s and have never performed a carotid ultrasound or CT vasectomy since you are still born, it is recommended to do it at least once in advance. Professor Lee Il-hyung said, "There may be differences in degree, but after the 40s and 50s, there may be vascular health abnormalities that even he or she does not know."Even if there are no major abnormalities at present, preemptive measures and careful follow-up are needed in the case of asymptomatic early stages, which are likely to worsen in the future."
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