Carotid bruit are discovered incidentally in an otherwise asymptomatic patient. The presence of a carotid bruit alone does not necessarily indicate the presence of stenosis, and the physical examination cannot be used to estimate the degree of stenosis, if present; therefore, any bruit must be evaluated by ultrasound or imaging. Bruit is traditionally pronounced "broot", rhyming with "boot", although the etymologically accurate pronunciation "bru´e" or "bru-e´" is common in North American medical parlance. In addition, while "bruit" and "murmur" are technically synonymous, the term "bruit" is generally reserved for arterial sounds in North America. Carotid bruit A carotid bruit is a vascular
Carotid body been put forward as a hypoxia sensor. In normoxia, haem-oxygenase generates carbon monoxide (CO), CO activates the large conductance calcium-activated potassium channel, BK. Falls in CO that occur as a consequence of hypoxia would lead to closure of this potassium channel and this would lead to membrane depolarisation and consequence activation of the carotid body. A role for the "energy sensor" AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) has also been proposed in hypoxia sensing. This enzyme is activated during times of net energy usage and metabolic stress, including hypoxia. AMPK has a number of targets and it appears that, in the carotid