Carotid colour Doppler imaging is now available in many district general hospitals. However, there are often long waiting lists during which time patients are at their greatest risk of a major stroke. Meadet al (this volume, pp 16–19) have analysed the Doppler results in 726 patients who had had a carotid transient ischaemic attack or minor stroke in an attempt to define those clinical criteria which could be used to identify patients most likely to have a carotid stenosis of 70–99%.

Although ipsilateral bruit is …