Objective To investigate the clinical value of high resolution magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the diagnosis of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases. Methods 180 patients with suspected ischemic cerebrovascular diseases who were admitted to the hospital from February 2016 to February 2017 were selected as the subjects. All patients were examined by high-resolution MRI. The imaging findings of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases were observed, and the efficiency of high-resolution MRI in the diagnosis of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases was evaluated with the results of digital subtraction angiography (DSA) as the golden standard. Results The high-resolution MRI findings of different types of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases were typical, and the sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of high resolution MRI in diagnosing ischemic cerebrovascular diseases were 90.16%, 79.31% and 86.67%, respectively.The high-resolution MRI T2WI examination of cerebral middle artery with eccentric stenosis showed that high-signal zone close to the lumen was the fibrous cap, and high-resolution MRI of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases showed that there was enhancement of strip plaques in left middle cerebral artery. The high-resolution MRI sagittal plain scan and enhanced sequence images of ischemic stroke showed that the left middle cerebral artery unstable plaques with severe stenosis. Conclusion High resolution MRI is of high value in the diagnosis of ischemic cerebrovascular diseases. It can be used as a safe and effective diagnostic method for ischemic cerebrovascular diseases.