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 sinus unstable, predispose to ischemic strokes and transient ischemic attacks, carotid endarterectomies are frequently done for prophylaxis. The carotid sinus can be oversensitive to manual stimulation, a condition known as carotid sinus hypersensitivity, carotid sinus syndrome or carotid sinus syncope, in which manual stimulation causes large changes in heart rate and/or blood pressure. This classically presents as a patient who has "fainted" (actually a presyncope) on several occasions while shaving, or in some other way coming into contact with their carotid sinus. Carotid sinus syndrome is a temporary loss of consciousness that sometimes accompanies convulsive seizures because of the intensity of