carotid artery

Last year my 84 year old mother found out her left carotid artery was 75% blocked. She takes a diuretic called Spirono HCTZ for slightly elevated blood pressure. She walks three miles a day and leads a very active life. The cardiologist said to take a baby aspirin a day and do nothing else. I have noticed her memory is not as good as it was a year ago. Could this be caused by the blockage? Should she have surgery to correct the blockage at her age. Thanks C.P.

[Cleveland Clinic]

cpontis,

thanks for the post.

Its a difficult question. There is a lot of debate over the care of asymptomatic carotid stenosis. There is some data that suggest that carotid revascularization can potentially decrease the risk of stroke. Currently, the debate has increased even more with the advancement of carotid stenting which provides a less invasive option for treating carotid stenosis. Either option needs to be weighed against the risk and benefit of the procedure which would take into account your mothers full medical history.

The stneosis itself isnt probably causing memory loss but might be a marker for previous sroke or intracranial vascualr disease.  If you wanted to be evaluated here at the Cleveland Clinic, Drs Jay Yadav, Samir Kapdia, Deepak Bhatt or Chris Bajzer all perform the carotid stenting and would be able to evaluate your mother.

good luck