A doença aterosclerótica intracraniana é caraterizada pelo desenvolvimento, progressão e complicações das placas ateroscleróticas que afetam as artérias intracranianas. A aterosclerose intracraniana representa a causa mais comum do Acidente vascular cerebral isquémico em asiáticos e africanos, representando 8-10% de todas as causas isquémicas de acidente vascular cerebral nos caucasianos. Deste modo, e atendendo à distribuição da população mundial, a aterosclerose intracraniana tem sido proposta como a causa mais comum de acidente vascular cerebral a nível global. Com este trabalho pretende-se fazer uma leitura e revisão de artigos publicados sem limite temporal, sendo no entanto atribuída preferência a artigos recentes, com o intuito de atualizar o tratamento, tanto preventivo como sintomático, da aterosclerose intracraniana. A metodologia utilizada na elaboração desta dissertação consistiu em pesquisa bibliográfica realizada nas bases de dados eletrónicas e motores de busca, tais como: Pubmed, Medscape, UpToDate e ScienceDirect, entre outros. Selecionaram-se diversos artigos científicos, entre outros materiais, que foram obtidos através dos seguintes termos de pesquisa: “Intracranial atherosclerosis”; “Ischemic stroke”; “Intracranial Stenosis”; “Treatment of Intracranial Stenosis”; “ICAS”.

Intracranial atherosclerotic disease is characterized by the development, progression and complications of atherosclerotic plaques that affect the atherosclerotic arteries. Intracranial atherosclerosis represents the most common cause of ischemic stroke among asian and African individuals whereas it accounts for 8–10% of all ischemic strokes in caucasians. Thus, attending the distribution of the world’s population, intracranial atherosclerosis has been proposed to be the most common cause of stroke globally. 1 This work intends to make a reading and review of published articles without temporal limit, but preference is given to recent articles, with the intention of updating both preventive and symptomatic treatment of intracranial atherosclerosis. The methodology used in the elaboration of this dissertation consisted of bibliographic research carried out in electronic databases and search engines, such as: Pubmed, Medscape, UpToDate and ScienceDirect, among others. Several scientific articles were selected, among other materials, which were obtained through the following search terms: "Intracranial atherosclerosis"; "Ischemic stroke"; "Intracranial Stenosis"; "Treatment of Intracranial Stenosis"; "ICAS".