Abstract
The clinical features of asymptomatic cerebral infarction (ACI) were investigated by means of CT and MRI examinations of 1,317 outpatients of the Department of Neurosurgery whose complaints did not involve stroke.
1) The incidence of ACI was 63 of the 1,317 cases (4.7%), but among patients in their sixties or older, the incidence was a high 14.9-19.5%.
2) Of the ACI 63 cases, 25 ACI patients (40%) had histories of primary disease and 15 (72%) had hypertension.
3) In regard to location, ACI was found in the lenticular nucleus, the putamen, the centrum semiovale, and the subcortex in the frontal and/or occipital lobe. There were 44 (70%) cases of single lesions, and 19 (30%) cases of multiple lesions. In 55 cases (87%), the lesions were less than 2 cm in diameter (lacuna).
4) In 15 cases in which both CT and MRI examinations were performed, MRI indicated lesions in 100% of cases, and CT in only 33%.
