Carotid Plaques and Multiple Brain Infarctions

Cerebral ischemic lesions sometimes are clinically characterized by major cognitive impairment such as vascular dementia. Among the quantifiable factors able to cause focal and/or diffuse ischemic lesions, carotid atherothrombotic plaques represent possible "foci" of embolism that lead to cortical and/or subcortical infarcts. The aim of the present study was to investigate the qualitative and quantitative aspects of carotid plaques in a group of patients affected by vascular dementia and a group of patients affected by multiple brain infarctions, in order to verify whether significant differences can be detected. These data point out the importance of plaque composition and morphology in the pathogenesis of brain infarction leading to dementia.