Carotid atherosclerosis is a major cause of ischemie stroke. Understanding the compositions of carotid plaque arid preventing plaque rupture are of importance to reduce the risk of ischemic stroke. Magnetic resornance imaging (MRI) is noninvasive, highly reproducible, does not involve exposure to ionizing radiation. It is one of the most potential imaging tools for carotid atherosclerotic plaques. This article reviews the application of MRI in the imaging of carotid atherosclerotic plaques.

The metabolic syndrome represents a complex combination of the symptoms obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipoproteinemia. Insulin resistance is the major pathophysiologjcal basis of the metabolic syndrome. There is a close association between the metabolic syndrome and its various components and vascular cognitive impairment. This article briefly reviews the mechanisms of metabolic syndrome caused vascular cognitive impairment, and summarizes the significance of controlling metabolic syndrome on the prevention and treatment of vascular cognitive impairment.

Cervical arterial dissection is an important cause resulting in stroke, particularly in young adults. The clinical manifestation of cervical arterial dissection may be various, and imaging examinations have a great value in the diagnosis of cervical arterial dissection. At present, anticoagulation and anti-platelet aggregation are the most important medication, while intravascular intervention is a new option for patients failed to respond to medical treatment. This article reviews the recent progress in the diagnosis and treatment of cervical arterial dissection.

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and lecukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is a recently described neurovascular disease affecting young to middle aged individuals. The disease is caused by mutations in the Notch3 gene located in the long arm of chromosome 19. The disease clinically is characterized by migrainous headaches ,mood disturbances, focal neurologic deficits, transient ischemic attaches, strokes and dementia. Pathologically, the disease is characterized by a stereotypic degeneration of the arterial walls with deposition in the media of a nonatheromatous,(nonamyloidotic) substance that under the electron microscope (EM) appears as a granular osmiophilic material (GOM). A review of current literature is presented concerning the clinical, radiological, pathologic and genetic feature of CADASIL.

Endovascular intervention is an effective method in the treatment of cerebrovascular stenosis. With the advancement of techniques and improvement of equipment, the application area of this treatment is expanding and the number of patients treated is increasing. Accordingly, the use of contrast media is improving continuously in endovascular intervention. An increasing number of contrast media-related complications have also been reported. This paper briefly reviews the contrast media-related complications and their management in endovascular intervention.

Intracranial stentosis is one of the important causes of ischemic stroke. In recently years, with the continuously development of endovascular intervention, angioplasty and stenting have become effective treatment options for intracranial stenosis. However, the indications, technical points, complications and prognosis of this treatment remain to be investigated and explored.

Approximately one-quarter of ischemic stroke occurred in vertebrobasilar artery system. Atherosclerotic vertebrobasilar artery stenosis is one of the major causes of posterior circulation stroke. In addition to the conventional medical and surgical treatment, endovascular intervention has received more and more attention, and it has become the most promising therapeutic approach.

Endovascular treatment is becoming a novel technique in the treatment of carotid stenosis. Since this technique is in its infancy, there are many controversies on this technique and theory now. This paper briefly reviews the most recent advances in endovascular treatment of carotid stenosis.

Cerebral venous thrombosis is a rare cerebral venous occlusive disease. Its clinical manifestations are variable, and this may lead to misdiagnosis or mistreatment. Prompt treatment is essential to improve its prognosis. This article reviews the recent treatment methods, especially the interventional endovascular treatment.

Cerebrovascular Intervention is to study the subject of diagnosing and treating cerebrovascular disease with interventional endovascular techniques monitored and guided by neuroimaging. With the continuous development of computer, imaging and angiography techniques, their study method and category are being innovated and expanded continuously in recent years. This article reviews the novel techniques of imaging diagnosis, intra-arterial thrombolysis, angioplasty and endovascular embolization in cerebrovascular diseases, and also evaluates their clinical applications.