title: Cerebrovascular disease.
abstract: Effective management of patients who have cerebrovascular disease depends on accurate diagnosis. Many conditions cause clinical findings that closely mimic cerebrovascular disorders and are often ruled out through brain imaging or laboratory findings. Diagnosis of cerebrovascular disorders is based on the presence of risk factors for vascular disease, the tempo of onset, the presence of concurrent conditions, and the clinical course of development of neurologic symptoms and signs. This article shares a process by which clinicians can combine a patient's history, neurologic examination, and brain and vascular imaging to localize a lesion and diagnose cerebrovascular disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Cerebrovascular Division, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215-5400, USA. lcaplan@bidmc.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Louis R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Caplan
authors.forename: D Eric
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Searls
authors.forename: Fong Kwong Sonny
authors.initials: FK
authors.lastname: Hon
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D002533:Cerebral Angiography; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography; D008297:Male; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors