More than one million people in Europe suffer from a stroke every day. Normally older people have a stroke, but also a significant number of younger people between 18 and 55 years. Usually, these can only be explained for a minority by the classical risk factors such as diabetes, overweight and high blood pressure. New studies indicate that in about 1 - 2 % of the younger stroke patients the etiology can be an undiagnosed genetic disease, e.g. Fabry disease. Fabry disease is a lysosomal storage disorder known to cause vasculopathy. The purpose of this study is to determine in a large number of young stroke patients, how many strokes were caused by Fabry disease and what risk factors might be able to predict this disease.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adult patients (18 - 60 years of age) with an acute ischemic cerebrovascular event either acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack within 10 days
• Diagnosis of the cerebrovascular event (CVE) by a stroke experienced physician
• Diagnostic procedures for CVE according to the local guidelines and recommendations
• Written informed consent from patient or legal representative according to local regulations

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients being younger than 18 years or older than 60 years of age.
• Acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack longer than 10 days before enrollment into the study
• CVE associated with intracranial hemorrhage as evidenced by cerebral CT scan
• Any uncertainty in the diagnosis
• No written informed consent from the patient or legal representative

Adult patients with acute ischemic cerebrovascular event of any ischemic etiology