Medical therapy for patients with subclinical and clinical carotid atherosclerosis

Abstract

The management of carotid artery disease includes both modifications in life style as well treatment of vascular risk factors. However, strict risk factor modification, including improved antihypertensive therapy, lipid management, smoking cessation, and antiplatelet therapy, promise for reducing the vascular event rate in patients with carotid atherosclerosis. The best medical management for stroke prevention was highlighted in clinical practice guidelines issued jointly in 2006 by the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association, and co-sponsored by the Council on Cardiovascular Radiology and Intervention and the American Academy of Neurology. Lowering blood pressure to a target below 120/80 mm Hg by life style interventions and antihypertensive treatment. Glucose control to near-normoglycemic levels (target hemoglobin A1C ≤7%) is recommended among diabetics to reduce micro-vascular complications and, with lesser certainty, macrovascular complications. The primary objective of this review is to summarize the current evidence and standards for the advanced diagnostic and management strategies used in asymptomatic and symptomatic patients with carotid atherosclerosis.