Lesion volume, lesion location, and outcome after middle cerebral artery territory stroke.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relation between lesion volume, lesion location, and clinical outcome in children with infarction in the territory of the middle cerebral artery (MCA).


METHODS
Children with MCA territory infarcts were selected retrospectively from a database of children with ischaemic stroke. Lesion volumes were expressed as a percentage of the supratentorial intracranial volume and were categorised as "small", "moderate", or "large". Lesion location was categorised as cortical or purely subcortical. Outcome was ascertained by parental questionnaire and was categorised as "good" or "poor".


RESULTS
38 patients were identified (median age 6 years); 21 patients had lesions that involved cortical tissue. Outcome was good in 12 cases and poor in 26 cases (including 2 children who died). Although there was no significant effect of lesion size or lesion location on outcome for the group as a whole, all children who had infarcted more than 10% of intracranial volume had a poor outcome. Of note, some children with small subcortical lesions had pronounced residual deficits.


CONCLUSIONS
Although the outcome after a small infarct in the MCA territory is variable and unpredictable, infarction of more than 10% of intracranial volume is universally associated with a poor outcome. Characterisation of lesion volume and topography might be helpful in identification of such children for participation in future trials of treatments for acute stroke.
Ganesan
V
V
Neurosciences Unit, Institute of Child Health, Guilford St, London WC1N 3JH, UK. v.ganesan@umds.ac.uk
Ng
V
V
Chong
W K
WK
Kirkham
F J
FJ
Connelly
A
A
D000293:Adolescent; D002536:Cerebral Arteries; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000473:pathology