BACKGROUND: If carotid endarterectomy (CEA) is a clinical model of embolic stroke, then it should be possible to determine the relevance of embolus size and of the total quantity of embolic material (embolus load) for ischemic stroke. MATERIAL/METHODS: Thirty-one patients underwent a total of 33 CEAs. Diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) was performed on the day before and after CEA. A new hyperintense signal on the postoperative DWI was considered a new ischemic lesion. Intraoperatively detected microembolic signals (MES) were quantified (in cm) by multiplying embolus velocity by the embolus presence within the Doppler sample volume. With this relative index, emboli were classified into small (

Keywords: Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods