Controlling Carotid Artery Disease

You just discovered you need surgery, and your physician is recommending a carotid endartectomy.  Your carotid arteries, the two large blood vessels on each side of your neck, are your brain's main source of blood supply.

The good news is that this type of surgery is performed at Eastern Long Island Hospital by Leslaw Gredysa, MD, a Board Certified Specialist in General and Vascular Surgery.  Dr. Gredysa specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of Peripheral Vascular Diseases including carotid artery disease and aortic aneurysm.

Risk Factors for
Carotid Artery Disease
 
Family history of atherosclerosis (build-up of plaque in the peripheral, coronary or carotid arteries)

Age (Men have a higher risk before age 75.  Women have a higher risk after 75.

Smoking

Hypertension

Diabetes

High cholesterol and especially high amounts of "low density lipoprotein" (LDL)
 

"Carotid endarterectomy, the most common surgical treatment for carotid artery disease, is a surgical procedure in which plaque is removed from an artery that has become severly narrowed," said Dr. Gredysa.  "The atherosclerotic plaque that builds up consists of cholesterol, calcium and fibrous tissue and results in stenosis - a narrowing of the arteries."