Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Carotid Artery Disease
Your carotid arteries are two large blood vessels in your neck. They supply your brain and head with blood. If you have carotid artery disease, the arteries become narrow or blocked, usually because of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is the buildup of plaque, which is made up of fat, cholesterol, calcium, and other substances found in the blood.
Carotid artery disease is serious because it can block the blood flow to your brain, causing a stroke. Too much plaque in the artery can cause a blockage. You can also have a blockage when a piece of plaque or a blood clot breaks off the wall of an artery. The plaque or clot can travel through the bloodstream and get stuck in one of your brain's smaller arteries.
Carotid artery disease often does not cause symptoms until the blockage or narrowing is severe. One sign may be a bruit (whooshing sound) that your doctor hears when listening to your artery with a stethoscope. Another sign is a transient ischemic attack (TIA), a "mini-stroke." A TIA is like a stroke, but it only lasts a few minutes, and the symptoms usually go away within an hour. Stroke is another sign.
Imaging tests can confirm whether you have carotid artery disease.
Treatments may include:
- Healthy lifestyle changes
- Medicines
- Carotid endarterectomy, surgery to remove the plaque
- Angioplasty, a procedure to place a balloon and stent into the artery to open it and hold it open
It sits within Blood, Heart and Circulation.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Carotid Artery Disease
904 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Pulse Detection in Cardiac Arrest Patients Using a Doppler Ultrasound Patch on the Carotid ArteryHeartstream US LLC
- Application of Extended Reality (XR)-Assisted Computed Tomography (CT)-Guided Localization in Extracranial-intracranial (EC-IC) Bypass SurgeryNational Taiwan University Hospital
- SIALIDASE INHIBITION AS ANTIATHEROSCLEROTIC THERAPYInstitute for Atherosclerosis Research, Russia
- Real-World Treatment of Extracranial Carotid Artery Disease With the ENROUTE™ Transcarotid Neuroprotection SystemBoston Scientific Corporation
- ULTIMATE Study (Carotid Ultrasound Vs CT Coronary Calcium Scoring to Reclassify Symptomatic Patients With Chronic Coronary Syndrome)London North West Healthcare NHS Trust
- Effect of Secukinumab on Cardiorenal Outcomes in Patients With Cardiorenal Metabolic Syndrome and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular DiseasePeking University Third Hospital
Research already completed
- Febuxostat Effect on Chronic Kidney Disease Progression And Carotid Intima-Media ThicknessAin Shams University
- Radial Versus Femoral Access For Carotid Artery StentingThe First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China
- Carotid Revascularization and Medical Management for Asymptomatic Carotid Stenosis Trial - Hemodynamics (CREST-H)Columbia University
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- Carotid Artery DiseaseTexas Heart Institute
- Carotid Artery DiseaseMayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
Diagnosis and Tests
- Asymptomatic Carotid Artery Stenosis: ScreeningU.S. Preventive Services Task Force
- Carotid Artery ScreeningRadiological Society of North America
- Carotid Ultrasound ImagingRadiological Society of North America
- Doppler UltrasoundNational Library of Medicine
- MR Angiography (MRA)Radiological Society of North America
Treatments and Therapies
- Carotid Angioplasty and StentingMayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
- Let's Talk about Carotid EndarterectomyAmerican Stroke Association
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Carotid Artery DiseasesNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Carotid StenosisNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Endarterectomy, CarotidNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Carotid Artery Diseases. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Carotid Artery Disease, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.