The problem of stroke is still of great medical and social concern. Annual morbidity and mortality patterns are comparable in Russia and in western countries. Stroke is the second or the third leading cause of death and the leading producer of disability among adults in the USA and western countries.
Ischemic strokes predominate over brain hemorrhage.
Ischemic stroke is the most threatening complication of vascular disease. Latest advances in detecting mechanisms of brain tissue damage during acute cerebral ischemia confirmed additionally that morphologically stable brain infarction and metabolically reversible injury after focal cerebral ischemia should be differentiated from each other. Vascular disease causes metabolic and hemodynamic changes in brain and they make the brain ready to develop eventual morphological defect following acute ischemic attack. Based on morphological criteria ultimate brain infarction is formed by two distinct mechanisms of necrosis and apoptosis. Contemporary scientific ideas about ischemic stroke pathogenesis have made it possible to create schemes of a biochemical cascade of ischemic consistent events what is of value to searching for therapeutic approaches.