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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2015 Feb 1.
Published in final edited form as: Stroke. 2014 Jan 7;45(2):645–651. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.113.002491

Table 1.

Key messages of the review

  1. The designation of intracranial atherosclerosis (ICAS) as intracranial stenosis is insufficient and misleading with respect to diagnosis, characterization and risk stratification of such lesions.

  2. Plaque morphology and stability, presence of collaterals, downstream perfusion status, and fractional flow across the lesion, etc., besides the percentage of luminal stenosis, may also facilitate risk stratification of patients with symptomatic ICAS.

  3. In the evaluation of ICAS, results of currently available imaging methods should be comprehensively interpreted based on the unique characteristics of each modality, rather than focusing solely on the severity of luminal stenosis.

  4. Symptomatic ICASs of <70% luminal stenosis, usually considered as “mild” or “moderate” lesions, are not without risk of recurrence, which also need to be fully appreciated in future studies and clinical practice, as with ICASs of >70% luminal stenosis.

  5. Diagnosis and evaluation of ICAS based on its correlations with subsequent clinical events rather than the percent stenosis may be of higher clinical significance.