Middle cerebral artery ischemic cerebrovascular accident

Accidente cerebrovascular isquémico de la arteria cerebral media

Cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs) are the second leading cause of death worldwide, of which more than two thirds are ischemic. They cause long-term disability, therefore, knowledge on the cerebral circulation anatomy and possible clinical manifestations of ischemic CVAs allows us to suspect, diagnose and provide timely and appropriate management, reducing the negative impact on the health and quality of life of patients and caregivers. Objective: to list the latest findings on cerebral arterial anatomy, pathophysiological mechanisms and clinical manifestations of ischemic middle cerebral artery (MCA) CVAs. Materials and methods: a literature review using a MeSH terms search in the Medline database, including studies, trials and meta-analyses published in English and Spanish between 2000 and 2020, using other complementary references. Results: 59 publications were selected prioritizing those published in the past 5 years and the most relevant in said period. Conclusions: there are few studies on the clinical presentation of CVAs, which, added to the interindividual variability of cerebral circulation anatomy, makes clinical identification of lesion location, within the vascular bed, difficult. Reperfusion of the ischemic penumbra region, as a therapeutic objective, is based on the pathophysiological mechanisms of the disease.  

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