Table 1.

Types of ischaemic stroke based on the TOAST classification.

Stroke type	Causes	Percentage
Large artery thrombotic strokes	Atherosclerotic plaques in the large blood vessels of the brain lead to ischemia and infarction	20%
Small penetrating artery thrombotic stroke (Lacunar stroke)	One or more vessels in the brain are affected (microatheromatosis)	25%
Cardiogenic embolic stroke	Associated with cardiac dysrhythmias, valvular heart disease, and thrombi in the left ventricles	15%
Cryptogenic strokes	Cause is unknown	5-10%
Strokes associated with other causes	Such as illicit drug use	20-25%

Source: adapted from Adams et al. [13].