title: Measurements of acute cerebral infarction: lesion size by computed tomography.
abstract: As part of a prospective therapy study of 65 patients with acute, nonhemorrhagic, cerebral infarction, computed tomographic scans of the head were obtained at admission, 7-10 days, and 3 months. The scans were analyzed for the presence, site, size, and volume measurement of the infarction. At 7-10 days, the mean infarction volume as measured by computed tomography was 55 cm3 or about 4 x 4 x 3.5 cm (range = 0-507 cm3). At 3 months, the mean infarction volume decreased by 25% to 41 cm3. For the 26 scans showing infarction at the time of admission, the mean lesion volume was 33 cm3 at admission, 51 cm3 at 7-10 days, and 49 cm3 at 3 months. With lesion size at 7-10 days expressed as percentage of total brain volume, the mean infarction size was only 5%. Of the 49 patients with lesions revealed by computed tomography at 7-10 days, 20 had an infarction of 1% or less of total brain volume, while only six had an infarction of 20% or more of total brain volume. The lesion volumes as measured by the 7-10-day computed tomography correlated with the neurologic examination scores on admission (Spearman's rank-order correlation = 0.78) and with the scores at 1 week (Spearman's rank-order correlation = 0.79).
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Cincinnati, OH.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brott
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Marler
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Olinger
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tomsick
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Barsan
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Biller
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Eberle
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Hertzberg
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Walker
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed