title: Acute cerebrovascular incident in a young woman: Venous or arterial stroke? - Comparative analysis based on two case reports.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cerebrovascular diseases are the most common neurological disorders. Most of them are arterial strokes, mainly ischemic, less often of hemorrhagic origin. Changes in the course of cerebral venous thrombosis are less common causes of acute cerebrovascular events. Clinical and radiological presentation of arterial and venous strokes (especially in emergency head CT) may pose a diagnostic problem because of great resemblance. However, the distinction between arterial and venous stroke is important from a clinical point of view, as it carries implications for the treatment and determinates patient's prognosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this article, we present cases of two young women (one with an acute venous infarction, the second with an arterial stroke) who presented with similar both clinical and radiological signs of acute vascular incident in the cerebral cortex. We present main similarities and differences between arterial and venous strokes regarding the etiology, clinical symptoms and radiological appearance in various imaging techniques.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We emphasize that thorough analysis of CT (including cerebral vessels), knowledge of symptoms and additional clinical information (e.g. risk factors) may facilitate correct diagnosis and allow planning further diagnostic imaging studies. We also emphasize the importance of MRI, especially among young people, in the differential diagnosis of venous and arterial infarcts.
authors: Department of General and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Clinical Hospital, Wrocław, Poland.
authors: Katarzyna
authors: K
authors: Sleiman
authors: Department of General and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Clinical Hospital, Wrocław, Poland ; Department of General and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, Wrocław Medical University, Wrocław, Poland.
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Zimny
authors: Department of Neurology, University Clinical Hospital, Wrocław, Poland.
authors: Edyta
authors: E
authors: Kowalczyk
authors: Department of General and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, University Clinical Hospital, Wrocław, Poland ; Department of General and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology, Wrocław Medical University, Wrocław, Poland.
authors: Marek
authors: M
authors: Sąsiadek
keywords: arterial stroke; cerebrovascular diseases; venous stroke