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Treatment for carotid stenosis

By listening through a stethoscope, sometimes an abnormal sound in the carotid artery can be heard, suggesting carotid stenosis. Angiography (an X-ray procedure involving the injection of dye into the artery), ultrasound of the artery or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the head may show carotid stenosis. Sometimes tiny blood clots can be seen in the eye's blood vessels. 

Medications, including anticoagulants (blood thinners), may be prescribed. Drugs to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels may also be prescribed. More serious cases of carotid stenosis may receive angioplasty, in which a tiny balloon is inflated inside the artery to force it open, plus a wire, tube-like stent to keep the artery open. Other patients may require a more invasive procedure, carotid endarterectomy, which involves an open incision in the neck to allow the surgeon to remove plaque from the artery.