What is a carotid artery duplex scan and why am I having it?
The carotid artery duplex scan is a noninvasive diagnostic tool done to assess the blood flow through the arteries that come from the heart through the neck and supply oxygen rich blood to the brain. It uses high pitched sound waves that are sent through a hand held device called a transducer. The transducer acts as both a sender and receiver of sound waves. As the sound waves are sent into the neck, they “hit” the carotid artery and are reflected or received back as a two dimensional picture of the carotid artery walls and then are transmitted to a video screen for viewing. We will be able to identify where in the artery a sticky material called “plaque” might be located and whether it is causing or soon to cause a problem. Another component of the exam is called Doppler. This will measure the direction and velocity of the moving blood through the carotid artery. You will hear a “whooshing” sound on and off throughout the exam. The absence, faintness or extreme harshness of these soun
