• SUBCLINICAL ULTRASOUND MARKERS IN THE PREVENTION OF CEREBROVASCULAR DISEASES

    V. Demarin
    Aviva Medical Centre – Zagreb, Croatia

    Cerebrovascular diseases (CVD) represent conditions which occur as a result of changes in blood vessels of the brain, as well as the vessels supplying the brain. The most common types of CVDs are ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack, hemorrhagic stroke and vascular dementia. CVDs affect millions of people worldwide, regardless of age, and represent a group of very important medical and social problems. Therefore, their prevention is becoming an imperative. Risk factors, such as age, gender, genetic factors, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholsterolemia, atrial fibrillation, orlifestyle,are causing changes of vessel walls which lead to CVD. Early changes of the blood vessel wall can be detected by early ultrasound screening methods which allow us to detect changes before the disease becomes clinically evident.