1) Carotid Doppler ultrasound is used to evaluate the carotid arteries for stenosis or occlusion. It involves using grayscale, color Doppler, and spectral Doppler to examine the anatomy and flow of the carotid arteries.
2) A normal carotid Doppler ultrasound will show triphasic waveforms within the carotid arteries with velocities under 125 cm/sec. The intima-media thickness should be less than 0.8-0.9mm.
3) Carotid artery disease is most commonly caused by atherosclerosis which can be evaluated using Doppler ultrasound parameters like peak systolic velocity, end diastolic velocity, and ICA/CCA velocity ratios to grade the severity of stenosis.