Ct and mr imaging in young stroke patients

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the role of CT and MR imaging in the diagnosis and management of young stroke patients. CT scan findings of 108 patients and MR findings of 30 patients between 15-45 years of age were reviewed retrospectively. The variables included the territory of infarct on CT and MR imaging, the cortical distribution and size of infarct. About 80% of the patients had infarcts of the carotid territory and 20% the vertebro-basilar distribution. More than half of the infarcts were cortical [56%]. The yield of MR imaging was much higher for deeper structures such as basal ganglia, thalamus and brainstem. In half the cases, the infarct size was more than 3 cm. The ratio of carotid to vertebro-basilar infarcts was similar to that reported previously. A large proportion of the carotid territory infarcts were cortical. Deeper infarcts were better imaged with MR scan. There was a high proportion of large infarcts