Objective To investigate the value of high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HRMRI) in assessing the stability and composition of plaque in patients with cerebral infarction.Methods A retrospective study analysis was adopted on patients with cerebral infarction and transient ischemic attack (TIA) who underwent HRMRI in the hospital. The clinical case data of 130 patients that met the criteria were collected between June 2019 and June 2021， and the patients with cerebral infarction were taken as observation group (n=72) and the patients with TIA were served as control group (n=58). The AS plaque location， plaque stability， arterial plaque load parameters and incidence rates of necrotic lipid core， intraplaque hemorrhage， fibrous cap rupture and lumen stenosis were compared between the two groups.Results The plaques in observation group were mostly concentrated on the posterior wall (20/72， 27.78%) and superior wall (39/72， 54.17%) while the plaques in control group were concentrated on the anterior wall (25/58， 43.10%) and inferior wall (20/58， 34.49%). The proportion of unstable plaques with (45/72， 62.50%) in observation group was significantly higher than (14/58， 24.14%) in control group. The lumen area (LA) in observation group was less than in control group while the normalized wall index (NWI) and vascular remodeling index (RI) were more than in control group.The incidence rates of necrotic lipid core， intraplaque hemorrhage and fibrous cap rupture were significantly higher than in control group.Conclusion HRMRI can clearly present the imaging features of vascular plaques in patients with cerebral infarction， and objectively and accurately identify the stability and composition of plaque. It is of great significance for early evaluation and diagnosis of cerebral infarction.