The hypodense artery sign.
An acute intracranial embolus may be associated with a hyperdense artery sign on CT, related to acute thrombus within the affected artery, a phenomenon that is well known and has been extensively documented. We present an unusual case of a middle cerebral artery territory acute infarct with a hypodense artery on CT. The Hounsfield unit attenuation of the embolic lesion was fat density. CT angiography and MR imaging confirmed the fatty lesion to be within the middle cerebral artery.
Lee
Thomas C
TC
Division of Neuroradiology, Department of Medical Imaging, Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Bartlett
Eric S
ES
Fox
Allan J
AJ
Symons
Sean P
SP
D000368:Aged; D002533:Cerebral Angiography; D004620:Embolism, Fat / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020244:Infarction, Middle Cerebral Artery / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D020766:Intracranial Embolism / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed