Lesions in cerebrovascular disease and their clinical implications.

Abstract

The clinical implications of advances in knowledge of the pathology of the stroke syndrome in the past 25 years are considerable. As the true role of cervical vessels disease in infarction has become apparent so the diagnosis of cerebral thrombosis?implying in situ thrombus forma tion of the major vessels of the brain?is now recognized as a rare occurrence. The role of hypertension not merely as an adjuvant to the development of atherosclerosis but as a cause of primary disease in the blood supply is gradually becoming appreciated, together with the implications for treatment. Though these two pathological processes?cerebral infarction and hypertension?account for the complaints of most patients presenting with vascular disease, a small but important group of younger patients present with identical symptoms of vascular disease but with diverse under lying pathological processes.