Post-traumatic cerebral infarction: Neuroimaging findings, etiology and outcome

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the radiological characteristics of post-traumatic cerebral infarctions (PTCIs), the etiology and site of infarction, and to provide neuroimaging indicators of a poor clinical outcome. Material and Methods: A retrospective study of 16 patients with the neuroimaging-based diagnosis of PTCI was carried out. All CT, MR examinations, cerebral angiograms and medical records of the patients were reviewed. Results: Infarcts were diagnosed in the territory of the posterior cerebral artery in 9 patients, in the middle cerebral artery in 5, in the anterior cerebral artery in 3, lenticulostriate-thalamoperforating in 2, vertebrobasilar in 3, and cortical infarcts in 2 patients. Neuroimaging studies suggested focal mass effect and/or acquired intracranial herniations as the cause of infarction in 13/16 patients (81.2%). In 3/16 patients (18.8%), PTCI was due to vascular injury of which 2 were angiographically documented (carotid artery dissection). Eight of the 16 patients in this study died or were left in a persistent vegetative state. Patients with associated subdural hematoma, brain swelling/edema and traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (tSAH) exhibited the worst outcome. Conclusion: Gross mechanical shift of the brain and herniation across the falx and/or tentorium accounted for infarction in a majority of cases in our study. The overall death rate was 43.8% and this result suggests that PTCI is an indication of a poor clinical outcome, especially among patients with associated subdural hematoma, brain swelling/edema and tSAH.