Silent Brain Infarcts in First-ever Ischemic Stroke Patients: MRI Findings and Stroke Risk Factors

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTS It is common to find cerebral infarction without a history of stroke on neuroimaging. This study was to determine the frequency, MRI characteristics of these lesions, and the risk factors related with silent brain infarcts in patients with first-ever ischemic stroke. METHOD: Sixty seven patients with acute ischemic stroke, who hospitalized in our hospital from April 1992 to May 1994, were reviewed. Brain MRI was performed in all patients. We evaluated frequency, site, size, and anatomic location of silent infarcts and compared the risk factors of the patients with silent infarcts with that of the ones without silent infarcts. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of silent infarct was 58.2% ( (39/67). The predilection sites were in the right hemisphere and subcortical area (basal ganglia, thalamus), and their sizes were less than 1 cm mostly. The significant risk factor of silent infarcts was hypertension(P<0.01), and the other risk factors, such as age, sex, DM, and EKG abnormality, were not remarkable.