i just recently found out that i was born without my left internal carotid artery. will this cause me problems in the future. should i follow up on things? i didnt get many answers from the neurologist i saw and i just know how important the carotd artery is and im worried about it. Also, if my right carotid artery ever became blocked and needed to be replaced, could they do that? or not?
2007-01-31 11:56:08 · 2 answers · asked by heretohelp 2 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Heart Diseases
The nice thing about your body is redundancy. Your body is fortunately prepared for just such an eventuality.
Given this is a congenital problem I would not be surprised if your arteries track in a way that is not common - therefore you are covered. But just in case let's say you don't have an alternative to your internal carotid artery...well that's where the left and right vertebral arterial flow comes in. It will fill retrograde and you will be fine. This actually happens with people who occlude (peripheral vascular disease) their arterial flow. We do not get concerned about occlussion (total blockage) - rather partial blockages as these are prone to cause strokes.
In sum, you probably have other arteries already covering what you are "missing" and secondly even if those went down, you have back ups. I wouldn't give it too much thought.
Good luck.
2007-01-31 12:16:50 · answer #1 · answered by c_schumacker 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Perhaps if you have some general questions, your family doctor can answer them. I would totally follow up on things. You only have one heart.
2007-01-31 20:04:43 · answer #2 · answered by K 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋