CORONARY AND CEREBROVASCULAR ATHEROSCLEROSIS - 2 ASPECTS OF THE SAME DISEASE OR 2 DIFFERENT PATHOLOGIES

Cerebrovascular and coronary disease are characterized by some common aspects. Indeed the same risk factors relate to coronary heart disease and to cerebrovascular disease. However, there may be differences in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic lesions in coronary and cerebral a rteries. In fact some populations are characterized by a high incidenc e of ischaemic stroke and a low incidence of myocardial infarction, wh ile in other populations there is an opposite trend. These differences could be explained on the basis of: genetic risk factors; a different prevalence of risk factors; a different reactivity of the coronary an d cerebral arteries to risk factors; anatomical differences concerning coronary and extracranial cerebral arteries with respect to intracran ial cerebral arteries. Atherosclerosis is undoubtedly a systemic disor der and its genetic and environmental causal factors are only partly k nown. The variable incidence of cerebrovascular and coronary heart dis ease in the same population or in different populations as well as the different nature of atherosclerotic plaques are probably related to t he different prevalence of the causal factors, even though these may n ot always be identified.