Carotid plaque may fall off, usually due to the formation of plaque from atherosclerosis, and soft plaque is more likely to fall off than hard plaque.
When carotid plaque is dislodged, it will enter the patient’s intracranial blood vessels along with blood flow, thus triggering cerebral infarction, and the patient will experience symptoms such as dizziness, headache, limb weakness and even hemiplegic aphasia.
When internal carotid artery plaque is found or there are high risk factors for internal carotid artery plaque formation (e.g. hyperlipidemia), timely prevention or treatment should be carried out in order to prevent plaque formation or dislodgement, which may cause cerebral infarction or narrowing of the internal carotid artery, thus affecting the intracranial blood supply.
Carotid plaque can be prevented or treated with oral anticoagulant drugs (e.g., aspirin) and lipid-lowering drugs (e.g., atorvastatin calcium tablets), but it is important to use these drugs under the guidance of a medical professional, and not to use them blindly on one’s own.