Reference luminal diameters of the carotid arteries among healthy Nigerian adults

The carotid arteries serve as major blood supply to the head and neck region of the body. Understanding their structure and function in the pathogenesis of stroke and in interventional neuroradiology due to luminal stenosis, atherosclerosis and wall stiffness is paramount. Doppler ultrasound scan plays key role in the early diagnosis of the pathologies of the arteries as it is an affordable, accessible, reliable and non-invasive clinical tool. Knowing normal average diameter of the carotid arteries among healthy individuals is important in making correct clinical diagnosis in any population. The aim of the study was to determine mean diameters of the carotid arteries among healthy adult Nigerians for reference.

This was a prospective study involving 104 healthy Nigerians within the ages of 18 and 65 years who had their carotid arteries scanned on both sides and each diameter was measured. A 95% confidence level was used; a p-value of < 0.05 was significant.

Of the studied population, 62 were males and 42 were females, and the average age of the subjects was 28.32 ± 9.09 years. From this study, the average luminal diameter of the common carotid artery = 0.61 ± 0.08 cm, internal carotid artery = 0.60 ± 0.08 cm and external carotid artery = 0.49 ± 0.10 cm. The results showed that although, there are differences in measurements between the two sexes (males slightly higher than females in common carotid artery) and between right and left sides (with right side slightly higher), they are not statistically significant.

This sonographic study on healthy Nigerian adults has given us normal reference values of the luminal diameters of the carotid arteries among Nigerians, which clinicians can make reference to, when assessing carotid artery diameters of patients in Nigeria.