Cerebral infarction does not occur typically at night.
In a hospital-based series of 66 consecutive patients with non-progressive cerebral infarction, the time of onset and the type of infarction on computed tomography were studied retrospectively. Forty-six (78%) patients suffered cerebral infarction between 6 am and 6 pm. Only five patients (8%) had their infarct between midnight and 6 am. Only three patients had a watershed-infarct, and these occurred during the daytime. Our results do not support the belief that atherothrombotic brain infarction is largely determined by haemodynamic factors.
van der Windt
C
C
University Department of Neurology, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
van Gijn
J
J
D002536:Cerebral Arteries / Q000503:physiopathology; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002940:Circadian Rhythm; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D002537:Intracranial Arteriosclerosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D002542:Intracranial Embolism and Thrombosis / Q000503:physiopathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed