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<div><table border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="90%" align="left"><tbody><tr><td width="485" valign="top"><p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p> <p><strong>Abstract </strong></p> <p><strong>INTRODUCTION:</strong><strong> </strong>It is thought that lacunae occur in patients with hypertension or diabetes mellitus as small-vessel involvement. The frequency of other stroke mechanisms in patients with lacunae was evaluated in this study.</p> <p><strong>methods:</strong><strong> </strong>Consecutive stroke patients admitted to Valie-Asr Hospital, Khorasan in 2006 were enrolled in a prospective study. Diagnosis of stroke and its risk factors was made by a stroke neurologist. All of the stroke patients underwent a standard battery of diagnostic investigations. Brain infarction was categorized as lacunae and large-vessel territory infarction (LVTI). Chi-square test and odds ratios were used for statistical analysis.</p> <p><strong>results:</strong> Ninety-six patients with lacunae and 252 patients with LVTI were studied.</p> <p>The frequency of diabetes and hypercholesterolemia was significantly higher in patients with lacunar stroke than in those with LVTI (P=0.034 and P&lt;0.001, respectively). The frequency of hypertension, smoking, transient ischemic attacks (TIA) and ipsilateral carotid stenosis was not significantly different between the two groups (P=0.94, P=0.59, P=0.37 and P=0.13, respectively). Atrial fibrillation was significantly more frequent in patients with LVTI (P&lt;0.001). The frequency of various etiologic mechanisms was not significantly different in lacunar stroke and LVTI patients (df=4, P=0.164).</p> <p><strong>CONCLUSIONS:</strong> Hypertension in patients with lacunar stroke is not more frequent than in other stroke patients. Cardioembolism and artery-to-artery embolism are important but less common mechanisms of lacunae.</p> <p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p></td></tr> <tr><td width="485" valign="top"><p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p> <p><strong>Keywords:</strong><strong> </strong>Atherosclerosis, lacune, stroke.</p></td></tr></tbody></table></div>