Stroke is a common cause of adult disability and the third cause of death in Western European countries. Carotid disease is a well-known risk factor for ischemic stroke, and this relationship is established. However, only a minority of the population with atherosclerosis will have a stroke. The aim of these paper is to establish the relation between carotid atherosclerosis and first ischemic stroke. We performed an observational study, including 159 patients with carotid atherosclerosis. Our patients were examined with carotid ultrasound examination and cranio-cerebral computed tomography. We excluded patient with other cause of cerebral ischemia such atrial fibrillation, myocardial infarction, arterial dissection, vasculopathy, neoplasia. We also excluded any kind of transient cerebral ischemia, because of heterogeneity and poor medical documentation. Despite our efforts to treat this condition, carotid disease remains a powerful risk factor for ischemic stroke.

Stroke remain the third cause of death and a major cause of disability worldwide. Our modern time enemy, atherosclerosis, with his many faces, is strongly related with stroke and its major subtypes. Ischemic stroke account up to 80 percent of all stroke. As a subtype of ischemic stroke, lacunar infarcts remain an important concern. Aim of this study is to correlate carotid disease findings with lacunar stroke. We studied a group of 129 patients with carotid disease, and we established a possible relationship with lacunar stroke. Ultrasonography findings were correlated with the presence of lacunar stroke, confirmed by CT scan. Our study demonstrate that carotid plaques number could be a good predictor for lacunar stroke risk. External carotid plaques number is strongly correlate with lacunar stroke presence.

Although, atherosclerosis is a risk factor for stroke, there are many questions about this relationship. Stroke remains the major cause of disability and death, and atherosclerosis is responsible for 15-20 % of strokes. Moreover, atherosclerosis is not likely to play a direct role in cardioembolic infarction, intracerebral and subarachnoid hemorrhage. This study aimed to elucidate how the presence of carotid atherosclerosis influenced the occurance of stroke and also how it interacted with other risk factors for stroke. Is it possible to make predicttions about it?