Moderate Stenosis of left carotid, no plaque

[BrittSmit]

Hello!

I just came back from my heart doctor where I went through a serious of tests because I told my physician that I was having some chest pains. Everything came back okay except a sonogram that was taken of the circulation on my neck and brain.

Results came back stating that I need to get an MRA because results were consistent with moderate stenosis of left common carotid artery.

(Mild intimal thickening without plaque formation, moderately elevated)

I thing is, is that there is no plaque. My arteries have just been narrowing I guess?

I tried googling information but every result I've gotten connects with plaque. Any information would be helpful!

Thanks!

[ed34]

Don't worry, it doesn't sound as if they know quite how bad your carotid arteries are. If you was my patient, I would be looking at an angiogram too, because if your carotid is restricted, then your coronary arteries may too.

[BrittSmit]

It was a sonogram, and there were no percentages, just the word moderate.

I'm getting an MRA for further investigation, but otherwise, my doctor doesn't seem worried. He just said to come back in 6 weeks, although I'm not sure my anxiety can take that. haha.

[Occupant]

To me plaque is ....plaque, soft or Calcium Phosphate, but you didn't say what kind of test you had. If it was an ultrasound echo then - at least in my case - they didn't seem too sure about the results. It stated 1% to 35% narrowing of the carotid arteries - so I decided to forget about it. A test result like that isn't worth the paper it is printed on.

[BrittSmit]

BTW, I'm a 25 year old female, that is 5'4 and 120 pounds.

I also got my blood test done in January and there were no abnormalities.

[BrittSmit]

They decided to run a series of tests because of my chest pains, and then found this.

My doctor told me I shouldn't be concerned, but I'm not so sure I should believe him because he was puzzled at the fact that my carotid was narrowing without there being plaque. The diagnosis also says "moderate", which of course is not "mild."

Should I get 2nd advice, and seek immediate medical attention. Or should I get my MRA (as I was going to) and wait for the results in the next couple of weeks?

[Ger57]

Fully agree with Ed. It may be that they found stenosis in your carotid artery while searching for a reason for your chest pains, but I dont see how it should explain your chest pains. So, while finding out the severity of your carotid stenosis and perhaps treat it, they still need to find the reason of your chest pain.

[ed34]

I have no idea why a blocked carotid artery would cause chest pains? When looking for blockages, looking for plaque is not a good idea because the actual material which forms the blockage is not plaque. Plaque is something later added by the body to try and prevent it getting into the blood stream, causing a heart attack or stroke. The actual material is a collection of lots of different cell types, like a mush. It can consist of red cells, white cells, urine cells, cholesterol lipids and many more. They actually get trapped in the artery wall, making it usually bulge inwards, forming a blockage. When this happens, you form a plaque plate over the bulge to prevent it from bursting open.