What are the symptoms of carotid artery disease?
Carotid artery disease may be asymptomatic (without symptoms) or symptomatic (with symptoms). Asymptomatic carotid disease is the presence of a significant amount of atherosclerotic build-up without obstructing enough blood flow to cause symptoms. Symptomatic carotid artery disease may result in either a transient ischemic attack (TIA) and/or a stroke (brain attack). A transient ischemic attack (TIA) is a sudden or a temporary loss of blood flow to an area of the brain, usually lasting less than five minutes but not longer than 24 hours, with complete recovery. Symptoms of a TIA may include, but are not limited to, the following: • sudden weakness or clumsiness of an arm and/or leg on one side of the body • sudden paralysis (inability to move) of an arm and/or leg on one side of the body • loss of coordination or movement • confusion, dizziness, fainting, and/or headache • numbness or loss of sensation (feeling) in the face • numbness or loss of sensation in an arm and/or leg • tempora
