Carotid angioplasty is a treatment for carotid artery disease – a procedure performed on carotid arteries when they become clogged or narrowed by an atherosclerotic plaque. The procedure involves the placement of an antiembolic protection filter past the narrowing, followed by the placement of a nitinol-stent at the level of the narrowing. The stent maintains the artery open and prevents it from narrowing again. Carotid angioplasty is an alternative to open surgery, being used when the traditional surgical procedures are not feasible or pose a high risk.
Procedure
During the intervention the patient is conscious for the whole duration of the procedure and can speak with the doctor at any time, being permanently connected to heart monitoring machines.
The interventional cardiologist choses the type of vascular access, the most indicated in this case being the femoral artery access, then under local anesthesia he punctures the artery.
After a small puncture has been made, the doctor introduces a tube in the artery (the sheath), through which a series of guides and catheters will be subsequently introduced (narrow tubes), by which he advances under radioscopic guidance to the origin of the carotid artery.
Using these catheters, the doctor injects the iodine contrast agent, which opacifies the carotid arteries and by x-ray exposure, this way observing the blood flow and potential narrowings of the arteries.
If stenoses are found, a thin wire guide is passes through these, an antiembolic protection filter is placed in order to protect the brain (by trapping bits of plaque that may detach from the artery walls), then an auto expandable Nitinol stent is passed through the stenosis, which is placed at this level.
