Which type of stroke is most commonly encountered in patients?

Ischemic stroke is the most commonly encountered type of stroke among patients. This type of stroke occurs when there is a blockage in a blood vessel that supplies blood to the brain, often due to a blood clot. Ischemic strokes can be further categorized into two main types: thrombosis, which involves a clot forming in an artery supplying blood to the brain, and embolism, where a clot forms away from the brain and travels through the bloodstream to lodge in narrower brain arteries.

The prevalence of ischemic strokes is significant, making up approximately 87% of all strokes. The blockage leading to an ischemic stroke can result from various risk factors, including hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, and lifestyle factors such as smoking and physical inactivity.

Although other options like hemorrhagic strokes do occur, they are less common, accounting for about 13% of all strokes. Transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) are brief episodes of neurological dysfunction caused by reduced blood flow to the brain; while they do signal stroke risk, they are not classified as strokes themselves. Cryptogenic strokes refer to those cases where no clear cause can be identified, but they represent a smaller subset of ischemic strokes. Therefore, the correct answer reflects the high incidence and