Ueno Y, et al. - Researchers aimed to clarify the potential embolic etiologies of cryptogenic stroke in the large TEE registry, the CHALLENGE ESUS/CS (Mechanisms of Embolic Stroke Clarified by Transesophageal Echocardiography for Embolic Stroke of Undetermined Source/Cryptogenic Stroke) registry which is a multicenter observational registry of cryptogenic stroke patients who had transesophageal echocardiography between April 2014 and December 2016. Overall 677 patients with cryptogenic stroke (age, 68.7 ± 12.8 years; 455 males; median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score, 2) were examined. Findings revealed a link between large aortic arch plaques and high CHADS₂ and CHA₂DS₂-VASc scores. Large aortic arch plaques were identified as significant embolic sources in cryptogenic stroke.