Grandma Song, who lives in Niujie, has been suffering from dizziness for the past year, and the whole family didn’t take it seriously. At the beginning of this year, when she was feeding her grandson, she suddenly lost control of her right hand, her chopsticks were unstable, and her speech became unclear. However, the problem of dizziness became more and more serious afterwards, so the family gradually paid attention to it and decided to take the grandmother for a good examination. During the carotid ultrasound, a big problem was discovered. The truth came out that the previous cerebral infarction and dizziness were all caused by this killer. Guo Jianming, Department of Vascular Surgery, Xuanwu Hospital, Capital Medical University
The carotid artery is the most important blood vessel supplying blood to the brain, imagine if there is a problem with this main artery of life, the consequences must be very trivial. As we age, atherosclerosis gradually appears, and many patients’ carotid arteries become narrowed as a result, leading to insufficient blood supply and dizziness. At the same time, these hardened plaques that lead to stenosis will continue to fall off and block the blood vessels in the brain, causing brain infarction, and if a large piece of thrombus comes off, it will cause fatal brain infarction, leading to death, and the danger of this disease is evident. This shows that dizziness cannot be ignored, and there may be a big danger hidden behind it.
The vascular surgeon told the family that the old man had a carotid artery stenosis “time bomb” strapped to his body, and gave priority to arranging a hospital bed. Professor Gu Yongquan personally performed the carotid artery endarterectomy. The operation went smoothly, and the next morning, the morning sun sprinkled on Grandma Song’s face, she excitedly told Professor Gu, who was checking the room, “After the operation, the dizziness is gone, my head is clearer, and even my eyes are clearer”. Indeed, carotid endarterectomy (CEA) surgery can correct the symptoms of cerebral ischemia and, more importantly, avoid the resulting stroke, greatly improving the patient’s quality of life. A small 5 or 6 cm incision in the neck exposes the carotid artery, which is then cut open and the sclerotic plaque inside is carefully peeled away and removed, which is the main procedure of CEA surgery. Debakey, an American vascular surgeon, completed the world’s first CEA surgery in 1954. Currently, more than 100,000 patients in the United States undergo CEA surgery for carotid artery stenosis every year. With the improvement of living standards in China, more and more cases of carotid stenosis are appearing in the clinic and the incidence of stroke is increasing year by year. The best tool to sanction this killer is endarterectomy. We remind patients who experience dizziness or even have had a cerebral infarction to seek timely medical attention, check carotid ultrasound, and if severe carotid stenosis is clearly present, early surgical treatment is recommended to avoid stroke events.