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Background: Embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS), a subtype of cryptogenic stroke, was defined as acute ischemic stroke displaying an embolic or non-lacunar brain infarct pattern on imaging without significant extra or intracranial ipsilateral vessel stenosis or without an identifiable cardioembolic source such as atrial fibrillation (AF) or left ventricular thrombi (Hart et al., 2014). ESUS patients tend to be younger than other stroke patients and have a lower incidence of traditional risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolemia, that are key contributors for the development of atherosclerosis, the substrate for small and large vessel disease.