In the neck there are a lot of blood vessels, including the artery. Therefore, to assess the state of health doctors prescribe ultrasound of the cervical vessels. During the procedure, you can examine the structure of the vessels, the speed and direction of the blood flow, as well as identify the presence of places that interfere with it.
Indications for ultrasound of the vessels of the neck
Ultrasound of the cervical vessels can be planned absolutely for all people. This will help you to reduce the chances of the appearance and development of a cerebral stroke. At risk are:
- persons over 40 years of age;
- people with a diagnosis of diabetes mellitus;
- people with elevated cholesterol, triglycerides, lipoproteins and low blood density;
- nicotine-dependent;
- hypertensive patients;
- people with osteochondrosis of the cervical department .
Another reason for the planned carrying out of ultrasound of the vessels of the neck may be heart surgery or blood vessels. There is also a group of complaints that may indicate vascular pathology:
- shaky walk;
- regular dizziness;
- ringing or noise in the ears ;
- poor sleep;
- deterioration of vision;
- hearing impairment;
- headache.
It is these symptoms that can serve as a weighty reason for ultrasound of the cervical department.
How do ultrasound of the vessels of the neck?
The essence of each ultrasound study is that the tissues of the body are characterized by different degrees of acoustic resistance, so not all directed ultrasonic rays are reflected. As a result, a black-and-white picture is created, which helps to assess the condition of the organ or site being examined.
Today, when examining the cervical department, duplex scanning is more often used instead of traditional ultrasound. This type of study reflects ultrasonic waves from moving objects, allowing to assess the state of all cervical vessels, the presence of constriction, thrombosis, as well as the speed and direction of blood flow.
Before carrying out of US it is necessary for you to remove or take off ornaments and clothes in the field of a neck. The examination can be carried out both in the supine position and in the sitting position. It all depends on the place of the neck that needs to be examined. Often before the ultrasound the doctor is interested in your condition, the presence of complaints and reviews the medical history, because for the correct evaluation he needs to know the whole clinical picture.
Further research is carried out as follows:
- The skin is applied with a transparent gel, which provides a close contact of the skin and the sensor of the ultrasound device.
- After the contact is established, the doctor carefully studies the black and white images that are changing on the monitor, which are called "slices". In the study, the sensor can produce sounds caused by measuring the blood flow in the vessel.
- After the doctor sees for himself the necessary information, the examination ends. It saves the data and prints one copy for you. On this ultrasound can be considered complete.
Decoding of the ultrasound of the vessels of the neck
When researching it is important to know not only what shows the ultrasound of the vessels of the neck, but also be able to decipher the result. This will help you to make information about the received indicators:
- So, let's start with the carotid artery. Its length to the right is 7 to 12 cm, to the left - 10-15 cm. In rare cases, when performing ultrasound of the neck vessels it is considered the norm to detect only one artery. The systolic-diastolic ratio should be 25-30%. This is considered the norm.
- The next important vessel is the vertebral artery. In it, the blood flow must continuously pulsate, other variants are considered a deviation.
- Concerning the blood flow, the ratio between the blood flow velocity in the common carotid and internal carotid artery should be within 1.8 ± 0.4. The size of the ratio affects the severity of spasm in the vessels: the larger the ratio, the heavier the spasms.
At US of cervical vessels the thyroid gland which should have the certain size is investigated:
- in the diameter of the gland - 15 - 20 mm;
- width - 20 - 25 mm;
- length - 30 - 50 mm.
Other indicators are not considered the norm and indicate deviations.