| REVIEW ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2015 | Volume
: 1
| Issue : 1 | Page : 47-52 |
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Intracranial atherosclerosis and inflammation: Lessons from the East and the West
Juan F Arenillas
Department of Neurology, Hospital ClínicoUniversitario, University of Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
Correspondence Address:
Juan F Arenillas
Department of Neurology, Hospital Clínico Universitario, University of Valladolid, Ramón y Cajal 3, Valladolid - 47003
Spain
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/2394-8108.162531
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Intracranial atherosclerosis (ICAS) is a major cause of ischemic stroke worldwide. Patients affected by this disease have a high risk of suffering further ischemic strokes and other major vascular events despite the best medical therapy available. However, identification of factors that characterize a high-risk ICAS patient is a clinical problem that is yet to be solved. Inflammation is known to play a crucial role in all the stages of atherosclerosis affecting extracranial arterial beds but its role in ICAS is not firmly established. Circulating inflammatory biomarkers may represent a valuable tool to assess the importance of systemic and local (intraplaque) inflammation in ICAS pathogenesis. In this article, we have reviewed studies with inflammatory biomarkers performed in symptomatic and asymptomatic ICAS patients published in the recent literature. Their findings strongly support the hypothesis that inflammation determines the risk of progression and complication of symptomatic ICAS. |
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