[Pathological changes of intracranial arteries in cerebral infarction].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the cause and severity of intracranial arterial lesions in extensive cerebral infarction (CI).


METHODS
78 consecutive autopsy cases were studied. They included 58 cases of CI and 20 cases of other diseases as control. Medium-sized intracranial arteries and their main branches, small intracerebral arteries, and arterioles were examined with light microscopy. Quantitative analysis was made with computer.


RESULTS
CI due to embolism was seen in 33/58 (56.9%) cases, thrombosis in 11/58 (19%), and unknown etiology in 14/58 (24.1%). The mean LA-VA ratios of the medium-sized intracranial arteries and their main branches, small intracerebral arteries and arterioles were lower in the CI patients than in the controls (P < 0.01). Atherosclerotic narrowing of the distal part of M1 segment of both lateral cerebral middle arteries, the basilar arteries and the main branches in the patients with thrombosis was markedly more severe than in those with embolism (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with CI have arterial lesions of different levels but the principal portions of cerebral artery lesions are the medium-sized intracranial arteries and their main branches. Thrombosis and embolism with medium, severe atherosclerotic narrowing of several arteries may play an important role in causing extensive CI in the middle aged and the elderly.
Liu
F
F
Department of Neurology and Neuropathology, Beijing Military General Hospital, Beijing 100700.
Zhang
W
W
Zhou
Y
Y
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001160:Arterioles / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002536:Cerebral Arteries / Q000473:pathology*; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000473:pathology*; D002941:Circle of Willis / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D002537:Intracranial Arteriosclerosis / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged