Middle cerebral artery (MCA) stroke describes the sudden onset of focal neurologic deficit resulting from brain infarction or ischemia in the territory supplied by the MCA.
The MCA is by far the largest cerebral artery and is the vessel most commonly affected by cerebrovascular accident. The MCA supplies most of the outer convex brain surface, nearly all the basal ganglia, and the posterior and anterior internal capsules. Infarcts that occur within the vast distribution of this vessel lead to diverse neurologic sequelae. Understanding these neurologic deficits and their correlation to specific MCA territories has long been researched.