Measurements of acute cerebral infarction: lesion size by computed tomography.
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).
Brott
T
T
Department of Neurology, University of Cincinnati, OH.
Marler
J R
JR
Olinger
C P
CP
Adams
H P
HP
Tomsick
T
T
Barsan
W G
WG
Biller
J
J
Eberle
R
R
Hertzberg
V
V
Walker
M
M
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