The Use of Transthoracic Echocardiography in Diagnosing Brachiocephalic-Subclavian Artery Stenosis

摘要

class="kwd-title">Keywords: Brachiocephalic-Subclavian artery stenosis, Subclavian artery stenosis, Echocardiography, Arm claudication class="head no_bottom_margin" id="sec1title">IntroductionSubclavian artery stenosis is commonly caused by atherosclerotic disease. Clinical manifestations include ipsilateral arm claudication, arm numbness, vertebrobasilar symptoms, and cardiac ischemia secondary to coronary steal (in patients with left internal mammary artery bypass graft). Diagnosis has been traditionally made using duplex ultrasound and confirmed using computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, echocardiography can be useful in detecting ostial and proximal brachiocephalic, left subclavian, and left carotid disease, although this utility has been underappreciated. We present the case of a female patient with a history of right arm numbness and dizziness with recent unremarkable carotid arterial Doppler findings who was diagnosed with right brachiocephalic arterial stenosis incidentally found on transthoracic echocardiography.