[Angiographic findings among Ecuadorian metis population with occlusive cerebrovascular disease of the anterior circulation]. / Hallazgos angiográficos en mestizos ecuatorianos con enfermedad cerebrovascular oclusiva de la circulación anterior.

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: 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. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 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 bed. RESULTS: 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 arteriosclerosis were present in 3 of 8 patients with extracranial disease and in none of 12 patients with intracranial disease, we found no differences in stroke risk factors among patients with intra or extracranial lesions. CONCLUSIONS: 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.