Do Stroke Etiologies Differ Between MCA and ICA Disease?

In this Korean study, the authors retrospectively compared stroke risk factors, infarction patterns, and NIH stroke scale (NIHSS) scores in 112 ischemic stroke patients with isolated middle cerebral artery (MCA) stenosis and in 71 ischemic stroke patients with isolated internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis (all with >50% stenosis).

The ICA group was slightly older, included more men, and had larger, more superficial, and more territorial infarcts than the MCA group. The MCA group more often had deep, striato-capsular infarcts. The ICA group had a higher average NIHSS score than the MCA group (7.1 vs. 3.9, respectively).