Plugged arteries to the brain - stroke risk?
I have probably answered dozens of questions like this on stroke forums. The medical staff is doing a lousy job explaining this.
Your doctor is quite remiss in not telling you about the physiology of the brain. There is a Circle of Willis that supplies blood to the brain. That is fed by four arteries, two carotid and two vertebral. Just because one or more arteries are blocked does not directly cause a stroke. The usual case is that the narrowed artery tears, clots and the clot lets go, traveling to the brain. You normally do not clean out a totally plugged artery because of the high risk of sending debris to the brain. I had a totally blocked right carotid artery for four years now and I don't worry about getting a stroke from that. Ask your doctor about this to see if s/he understands basic brain matters.
But then I am a stroke-addled survivor, so don't listen to what I have to say, your doctor is infallible, listen to them.
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