Stenosis <50% in 29 yr old

[sphengolly]

I just had a carotid artery ultrasound due to some wierd unexplained neck pain/head rushes. I am pretty healthy. Active, lean, eat relative healthy. My cholesterol is always low. My HDL's are sometimes borderline low though. I have some history of heart disease in my family. But not too much. I find it concerning that there is noticable plaque build up at only 29. As is shown below, the results are not "normal", but some amount of stenosis is seen. Should I worry about this at my age? Thanks,Ben

These are the results:
FINDINGS:    
RIGHT CAROTID SYSTEM:    
Atherosclerotic plaque:  Minimal    

Velocities:    
RICA PSV: 101 cm/s    
RICA EDV: 22 cm/s    
RCCA PSV: 98 cm/s    
RCCA EDV: 20 cm/s    
RECA PSV: 104 cm/s    
    
ICA/CCA PSV ratio: 1.03    
Right Vertebral Artery:  [Antegrade]    
% Right Internal Carotid Artery Stenosis:  Less than 50 %    
  
LEFT CAROTID SYSTEM:    
Atherosclerotic plaque:  Minimal    
  
Velocities:    
LICA PSV: 85 cm/s    
LICA EDV: 27 cm/s    
LCCA PSV: 112 cm/s    
LCCA EDV: 18 cm/s    
LECA PSV: 101 cm/s    
  
ICA/CCA PSV ratio: .76    
Left vertebral artery:  [Antegrade]    
% Left Internal Carotid Artery Stenosis:  Less than 50%    
  
CONCLUSIONS:    
1. On the right, there is minimal plaque causing a less than 50 %    
stenosis. No velocity elevation    
2. On the left, there is minimal plaque causing a less than 50 %    
stenosis. No velocity elevations    
3. Vertebral artery flow is [antegrade] bilaterally.    
4. No evidence of significant carotid disease  

[dianna12]

My doctor just told me I have 50- 70% blockage in my carotid artery, I’m 61 years old and I do have high blood pressure, he is now sending me to see another doctor vascular doctor, what is done with this amount of blockage?

[ed34]

You will be surprised how many people around the age of 30 have SOME signs of plaque. There is no evidence to suggest you will have heart problems in the future because of this.

[sphengolly]

Thanks for the perspective. I talked to my doc today and he said he considers this normal. He said, sure it would be ideal if no plaque was visible. But that this level wasn't indicative of any problem.

[cardiobill]

Hi, I actually do carotid tests among many other ultrasound tests.
What you wrote is a normal write up of a carotid exam. If its normal, its stated as less than 50% narrowing, that includes 0% narrowing.
Since its difficult to visualize all of the carotid its often reported as minimal plaque even though none is seen.
The carotid artery is like a garden hose, if you put your thumb over a garden hose the flow accelerates and the velocites you stated are WELL within normal. Normal is around 100 cm/sec and yours are clearly within normal.
My advice is not to stress about this at all. Just regular exercise, no smoking, dont get diabetes by getting or staying skinny and maintain normal cholesterol levels with medications if necessary and that's it

[itdood]

I think you are misinterpreting your results.  In the conclusions it says "No evidence of significant carotid disease".

It says stenoisis is < 50%, that could mean it's 0-50, it's wide open.

Talk to your doctor about the results.