Finding the right tests…
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Emergency services available 24 x 7
Finding the right tests…
CT Scan
CT angiography of the head and neck extends the same contrast-based vessel mapping used for CTA head down through your neck, capturing the carotid and vertebral arteries that carry blood up to your brain. Doctors add the neck portion when stroke risk from narrowed or plugged neck arteries needs checking alongside the brain's own vessels, since a blockage lower down can be just as important as one inside the skull. Contrast dye is injected into an arm vein, and the scan is timed to catch it as it travels from your chest up through your neck and into your brain. The wider coverage means one appointment, not two separate scans.
There's no single lab value here. A radiologist reports the percentage of narrowing in each carotid and vertebral artery, whether plaque is present, and how the brain's own vessels look, giving your doctor a combined picture of vessel health from chest to brain.
This scan is CTA head extended further down, adding the neck's carotid and vertebral arteries to the brain's own vessels in one pass. The extra coverage matters because a stroke can start with a problem in the neck just as easily as one inside the skull.
- Carotid artery narrowing, usually from plaque buildup, can limit blood flow to the brain even when the brain's own vessels look normal - Vertebral artery problems in the neck can also affect blood supply to the back of the brain - Seeing the whole pathway, from the chest up into the skull, in one scan avoids gaps between separate neck and head studies
This combined scan is often used in stroke or TIA (mini-stroke) workups, when doctors need to know not just what's happening inside the brain but also whether the arteries feeding it are narrowed. It's also useful before certain neck or vascular surgeries, where the surgical team needs a full map of blood flow from the neck upward. As with CTA head, iodine-based contrast is used, so kidney function and any contrast allergy history matter before the scan.
Blood reaches your brain through arteries in your neck, so a narrowing there can affect your brain even if the brain's own vessels look fine. Scanning both together gives a fuller picture in one appointment.
No. Carotid ultrasound uses sound waves and is often the first test for suspected narrowing, while CTA head and neck uses contrast dye and CT to map the arteries in more anatomical detail.
A radiologist compares the narrowest point of the artery to a normal-width section nearby and reports it as a percentage. Your doctor uses this figure alongside your symptoms to decide on treatment.
Yes, CTA head and neck relies on iodine-based contrast injected into a vein to make the arteries visible, so the centre will check your kidney function and contrast history beforehand.
This page is general information about the test, not medical advice. Your own report's reference ranges apply — please discuss your results with your doctor.
The scan itself takes only a few minutes, but allow extra time for the IV line, contrast injection, and positioning before and after.
For many stroke and TIA workups, yes, since it's less invasive. Your doctor may still recommend a catheter angiogram if treatment, not just diagnosis, is being planned.
CTA is generally considered pacemaker-safe since it doesn't use a strong magnetic field the way MRI does, but tell the centre about your device so they can take any needed precautions.