What are the early symptoms of carotid arteritis?

Carotid arteritis is also known as carotid periarteritis. It is usually manifested as pain or tenderness in the neck artery. It often occurs in the throat, face, ears, shoulders and other organs of the human body. The incidence rate is generally highest in women. Carotid arteritis is very harmful to the human body. If we suffer from carotid arteritis, we must seek treatment as soon as possible to avoid delaying the disease and missing the best time for treatment.

What are the early symptoms of carotid arteritis?

Symptoms of Carotid Arteritis:

① Throbbing pain, distending pain or stabbing pain in the neck and throat, which is usually on one side or heavier on one side. The pain is aggravated when swallowing saliva, but not so painful when eating (called "empty throat pain"). The pain is also aggravated when turning the neck or lowering the head.

② Foreign body sensation in the throat, or accompanied by pain in the ear on the same side, forehead and occipital scalp pain, and shoulder and back pain;

③Some patients have low fever below 38°C, and systemic symptoms are less common.

What are the symptoms of carotid stenosis?

Common symptoms: tinnitus, dizziness, blackouts, foggy vision, hard skin on the back of the neck and shoulders, visual impairment, inability to turn the neck, narrow murmurs, demyelinating lesions of the cervical spinal cord, sore neck and back pain in postpartum women, headaches, diffuse severe pain in the neck and back when waking up in the morning

Carotid artery stenosis caused by atherosclerosis is more common in middle-aged and elderly people and is often accompanied by multiple cardiovascular risk factors. Carotid artery stenosis caused by brachiocephalic arteritis is more common in adolescents, especially young women. Carotid artery stenosis caused by injury or radiation, with a history of corresponding injury or radiation exposure before the onset of the disease. Clinically, carotid artery stenosis is divided into two categories: symptomatic and asymptomatic, depending on whether it produces symptoms of cerebral ischemia.

1. Symptomatic carotid artery stenosis

(1) Symptoms of cerebral ischemia may include tinnitus, vertigo, blackouts, blurred vision, dizziness, headache, insomnia, memory loss, drowsiness, and nightmares. Symptoms of ocular ischemia include decreased vision, hemianopsia, diplopia, etc.

(2) The transient loss of local neurological function in TIA is clinically manifested as temporary disturbance of sensory or motor function in one limb, transient monocular blindness or aphasia, etc., which usually only lasts for a few minutes and fully recovers within 24 hours after onset. Imaging examination showed no focal lesions.

(3) Common clinical symptoms of ischemic stroke include sensory disturbance of one limb, hemiplegia, aphasia, cranial nerve damage, and coma in severe cases, with corresponding neurological signs and imaging features.

2. Asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis

Many patients with carotid artery stenosis do not have any neurological symptoms or signs clinically. Sometimes, only during physical examination is it discovered that the carotid artery pulse is weakened or absent, and vascular bruits are heard at the base of the neck or along the course of the carotid artery. Asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis, especially severe stenosis or plaque ulcer, is recognized as a "high-risk lesion" and is receiving increasing attention.