”A mini-stroke, medically known as a transient ischemic attack (TIA attack), is often caused by localized cerebral ischemia and transient dysfunction of the brain due to microscopic thrombosis or cerebrovascular spasm in small arteries in the brain. After the initial appearance of “mini-stroke”, 4/5 untreated people will have cerebral infarction (which is what we usually call ischemic stroke) within a few months, so “mini-stroke” is a very dangerous signal and a precursor of cerebral infarction. A large number of clinical data show that 80% of patients with cerebral infarction have stenosis or occlusion in the internal carotid artery and vertebral artery outside the skull. Common causes include atherosclerotic stenosis of the internal carotid artery, stenosis and torsion of the vertebral artery, carotid aneurysm, carotid body aneurysm, multiple aortitis and subclavian steal syndrome. Stenosis of the carotid and vertebral arteries causes symptoms mainly due to the atherosclerotic plaque and hyperplastic intima that reduces blood flow, and the debris of the plaque is easily dislodged, which also causes recurrent “mini-stroke” attacks. So how to detect “mini-stroke”, which is the precursor of cerebral infarction? If the ischemia occurs in the carotid system, the symptoms are sudden limb weakness or paralysis, sensory impairment, aphasia, transient blindness in one eye, and generally no impairment of consciousness. The symptoms are usually of short duration, a few minutes to a few hours, but the same episodes can recur, even several times a day. If this condition continues to develop it will form a cerebral infarction and eventually lead to disability or death. In China, about 500,000 people have ischemic strokes, or cerebral infarction, every year, and about 1/2-2/3 of the infarctions are related to carotid artery stenosis. However, most patients do not understand the powerful relationship between carotid artery stenosis and cerebral infarction, and even many doctors lack proper understanding of it. Active treatment of carotid artery stenosis is very important to prevent cerebral infarction. Internal carotid endarterectomy is currently the standard procedure for treating atherosclerotic stenosis of the carotid artery. This procedure has been widely performed abroad for more than 50 years and has long been the preferred method for preventing and treating cerebral infarction. In China, this procedure was started 20 years ago in large hospitals in Beijing and Shanghai, and now more and more hospitals are starting to perform it one after another, which has benefited more and more patients. The procedure involves removing the thrombus, atherosclerotic plaque, and necrotic thickened intima from the stenotic area together to restore the stenotic artery to its normal caliber. In layman’s terms, the upstream river is cleared of silt so that there will be no water supply shortage downstream. The procedure takes about an hour, and the patient normally requires only 1-2 weeks in the hospital, and is inexpensive. In order to save more elderly people from the threat of cerebral infarction and to live a healthy life in their old age, we suggest that all elderly people over 60 years old, especially those with smoking habits, with hypertension, diabetes or coronary artery disease, lower limb atherosclerosis occlusive disease, and those with a family history of stroke, should have a Doppler ultrasound examination of the neck blood vessels once a year, and if the patient is in a position to Patients with ischemic symptoms and carotid artery stenosis over 50% should go to the hospital as soon as possible for surgical treatment.