Carotid ultrasound predicts stroke, heart attack risk

August 15, 2008 Carotid ultrasound predicts stroke, heart attack risk H. A. Abella -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Evaluation of carotid artery plaque density performed on serial ultrasound scans could help identify patients at high risk for a heart attack or other adverse cardiovascular events, according to Austrian researchers. Physicians know that the majority of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events occur in patients whose blood vessels are less than 70% narrowed. Determining the degree of stenosis is thus insufficient to predict a patient's risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke, said lead researcher Dr. Markus Reiter of the department of angiography and interventional radiology at Medical University Vienna.

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