Angiographic findings in Ecuadorian mestizos with anterior circulation occlusive cerebrovascular disease

This study was conducted to determine the location of arterial lesions in a population of Ecuadorian mestizos with cerebral infarcts in the carotid territory caused by large-artery atherosclerosis. Such patients were prospectively entered into a protocol of investigation that included cerebral angiography as the 'gold standard' for evaluation of the extra and intracranial vascular beds. Twelve (60%) of the 20 patients included in this study had symptomatic intracranial lesions, and the remaining 8(40%) had extracranial lesions. Intracranial lesions were most often located in the middle cerebral artery stem. With the exception that systemic markers of atherosclerosis were present in 3 of 8 patients with extracranial disease and in none of the 12 patients with intracranial disease, we found no extracranial disease and none of the 12 patients with intracranial disease, we found no differences in stroke risk factors among patients with intra or extracranial lesions. This study provides suggestive evidence that the distribution of arterial lesions in Ecuadorian mestizos with occlusive cerebrovascular disease is different from that in whites but similar to that in blacks and orientals.