Cerebral hemorrhagic infarction at autopsy: cardiac embolic cause and the relationship to the cause of death.
In 48 patients dying within 15 days following a supra-tentorial cerebral infarct, the presence of hemorrhagic infarction at autopsy was related to a cardiac embolic cause of the infarct, and to the cause of death. Hemorrhagic infarcts were more common among patients dying from brain herniation than among those dying from a non-cerebral cause. Cardiac embolic strokes were more often hemorrhagic at autopsy than strokes without such cause; this could be explained by a significant higher rate of brain herniation and death after embolic stroke. On the other hand infarcts with extended hemorrhages more often tended to have a cardiac than a non-cardiac cause. These data, together with earlier clinical findings suggest that autopsy studies are biased in relating hemorrhagic infarction almost exclusively to a cardiac embolic cause of stroke, although cardiac emboli may produce more extended hemorrhages.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000473:pathology; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D004677:Encephalocele / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D002542:Intracranial Embolism and Thrombosis / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged