title: Prevalence of intracranial artery stenosis in Iranian patients with acute ischemic stroke using transcranial Doppler ultrasonography.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study is to determine the frequency of intracranial artery stenosis in patients with acute ischemic stroke in Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 169 patients with acute ischemic stroke were eligible to participate and were enrolled in this study from January 2012 to February 2013. All the patients were admitted to the Nemazee ‎Hospital, affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. They underwent transcranial Doppler (TCD) ultrasonography. Mean flow velocity (MFV) of basilar artery, vertebral artery, middle cerebral artery (MCA), anterior cerebral artery (ACA), and posterior cerebral artery (PCA) were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A mean of patients' age was 67.80 ± 8.14 years. There were 83 men (49.1%) and 86 women (50.9%). Overall, 43 patients (25.4%), with a mean age of 66.7 ± 6.2 years, had intracranial stenosis. The number of men and women with intracranial stenosis was comparable (52.4% men vs. 47.6% women). Hypertension (P < 0.001), hyperlipidemia (P < 0.001), and diabetes mellitus (DM) (P < 0.001) were major risk factors for intracranial stenosis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of intracranial artery stenosis in patients with acute ischemic stroke is 25.4% which is comparable with previous reports from Iran and other Middle East countries.
authors.affiliation: Shiraz Neuroscience Research Center, Clinical Neurology Research Center, Department of Neurology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Abdolhamid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shariat
authors.affiliation: Clinical Neurology Research Center, Department of Neurology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Leila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Niknam
authors.affiliation: Shiraz Neuroscience Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Sadegh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Izadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, School of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salehi
keywords: Atherosclerosis; Intracranial Arteries; Ischemic Stroke; Transcranial Doppler Ultrasonography