Ischemic stroke happens when blood flow through the artery that supplies oxygen-rich blood to the brain becomes blocked. An ischemic stroke is damage of an area of brain tissue (cerebral infarction) resulting from an inadequate supply of blood and oxygen to the brain due to blockage of an artery majorly in the frontal lobe.

At cellular level the pathophysiology of stroke involves numerous processes including energy failure, loss of ion homeostasis, overload of intracellular calcium ion (Ca2+) concentrations, excitotoxicity, activation of free radicals, release of cytokines, disruption to the blood-brain barrier (BBB), activation of glial cells and inflammation; these series of cascading events ultimately0lead to necrosis and apoptosis