Cerebral Vascular Disease

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
In spite of progress in understanding cerebral vascular disease, various aspects of its etiology, diagnosis, and management have yet to undergo final evaluation. Which, if any, of the several putative factors in cerebral arteriosclerosis may be of primary importance remains undetermined. Differential diagnosis is complicated by similarity of neurological signs and symptoms having various etiologies. Accurate clinical localization of ischemic arterial lesions is often rendered difficult by such factors as anatomic inconstancy of cerebral vascular arrangement, presence of effective collaterals, and coexistence of intracerebral and aortocranial arterial disease. Identification of systemic factors precipitating cerebral vascular insufficiency may be hampered by their often fleeting nature. Many recently introduced clinical investigational modalities are being employed to assist in diagnosis and localization of cerebral vascular lesions, but individually these tests are not always entirely reliable. The evaluation of the efficacy of available therapeutic modalities (dietary or phramacological cholesterol reduction, cerebral vasocilators, thrombolytic and anticoaguland agents, and aortocranial vascular surgery) continues to be difficult because of the unpredictable clinical course of individuals with cerebral vascular disease.