A new study is challenging long-standing assumptions about the causes of lacunar stroke, a common type of ischemic stroke linked to cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD).
Researchers found that abnormal widening, elongation, and twisting of the basilar artery in the brain’s posterior circulation was strongly associated with lacunar stroke, not large artery stenosis from atherosclerotic plaque buildup, as previously thought.
Arterial widening was also linked to greater small vessel disease burden, progression of white matter injury, and new infarcts on MRI.
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