Aortic Arch Atherosclerotic Diseases And Ischemic Stroke

Most ischemic strokes are of embolic origin. Artery-artery thrombo-embolism was ignored by neurologists due to limited techniques and absence of detection. In particular, neurologists pay less attention to aortic arch artherosclerosis, which is a common source of artery-artery emboli. Consequently, this becomes a significant cause of undetected diagnosis and unknown cause (cryptogenic) stroke. With the development of neuroimagery, it has become increasingly recognised as well as cardiac emboli. This paper reviews the morbidity, risk factors and the relationship between aortic embolism and stroke. The methods used to detect aortic arch atherosclerosis are also reviewed.