Ischemic Lesion Burden and Characteristics of Aortic Atheroma

Background To investigate whether ischemic lesion burden including lesion pattern, number, and volume would vary depending on risk stratification of aortic atheroma (AA). Methods Acute stroke patients were enrolled if they had (1) acute ischemic lesions on diffusion-weighted imaging within 5 days of symptom onset, (2) cardioembolic stroke established through extensive workup, and (3) only ascending or arch AA detected by transesophageal echocardiography as an embolic source. AA was classified as complex (protruding ≥4 mm into the aortic lumen or any mobile or ulcerative component) or simple (