Carotid Atherosclerosis and Lacunar Stroke a Possible Association

Abstract Stroke remain the third cause of death and a major cause of disability worldwide. Our modern time enemy, atherosclerosis, with his many faces, is strongly related with stroke and its major subtypes. Ischemic stroke account up to 80 % of all stroke. As a subtype of ischemic stroke, lacunar infarcts remain an important concern. Aim of this study is to correlate carotid disease findings with lacunar stroke. We studied a group of 129 patients with carotid disease, and we established a possible relationship with lacunar stroke. Ultrasonography findings were correlated with the presence of lacunar stroke, confirmed by CT scan. Our study demonstrate that carotid plaques number could be a good predictor for lacunar stroke risk. External carotid plaques number is strongly correlate with lacunar stroke presence.