Distribution and Pathological Findings of Intracranial Atherosclerosis in Thai Postmortem Cases

Objective: To determine the distribution and pathological findings of intracranial atherosclerosis in Thai postmortem cases. Materials and Methods: The prospective cross-sectional study was conducted on Thai postmortem cases aged 45 years or older. Sex, age, weight, height, and brain weight were recorded for each case. Intracranial atherosclerosis was assessed in 11 vessels of the Circle of Willis (CoW), including the anterior cerebral arteries (ACA), middle cerebral arteries (MCA), internal carotid arteries (ICA), posterior cerebral arteries (PCA), basilar artery (BA) and vertebral arteries (VA), using histological examination. Grading of atherosclerotic plaques in each vessel was recorded. Descriptive statistics, bivariate correlation, and ordinal logistic regression were performed where appropriate. Results: A total of 97 Thai subjects were recruited, consisting of 47 female and 50 male subjects, with a mean age of 61.41 years. Brain weights in male subjects were significantly higher than those in female subjects (p < 0.001). Brain weights in both female and male subjects were negatively correlated with increasing age (p < 0.001). Early and advanced atherosclerotic plaques were most frequently detected in the ICA, followed by the BA and MCA, respectively. Using ordinal logistic regression, it was found that degrees of intracranial atherosclerosis in all vessels of the CoW significantly increased with increasing age (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Intracranial atherosclerosis in Thai subjects was commonly detected in the ICA, followed by the BA and MCA, respectively. The degrees of atherosclerotic plaques in all studied vessels significantly increased with increasing age.