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Question:
Would a stint stabilize my carotid dissection?
I am a 52-year-old female physician. I suffered a spontaneous carotid dissection in November, now treated with Coumadin. Complicating the picture, after recent surgery for a thyroid mass now found to be medullary CA, I have had slowly progressive left sided facial dysesthesias, exactly like before the dissection was found. Would a stent stabilize this or do I have to deal with and fear these forever? I will potentially need a neck dissection in a few months. The neuro symptoms were probably 95% or more gone, prior to the thyroidectomy. The mass was 6cm and compressing my trachea, necessitating surgery even though I had some residual symptoms at the time. What would be the next step to sort this out?
submitted by Melanie from Waco, Texas on 2/28/2015
Answer:
by Texas Heart Institute cardiologist, Neil E. Strickman, MD
The treatment for the carotid dissection depends upon:
- Location, intracranial or extracranial
- Diameter of the vessel
- Documented ongoing ischemia
- Presence or absence of collaterals to the region
Standard of care has been anticoagulation for 6 months.
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Updated February 2015
