This Article Full Text Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by del Mar Saez de Ocariz, M. Articles by Bautista, M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by del Mar Saez de Ocariz, M. Articles by Bautista, M.

(Stroke. 1996;27:1530-1536.)
© 1996 American Heart Association, Inc.

Articles

Thalamic Vascular Lesions

Risk Factors and Clinical Course for Infarcts and Hemorrhages

Maria del Mar Saez de Ocariz, MD; Juan A. Nader, MD; Jose A. Santos, MD Miguel Bautista, MD

the Laboratory of Cerebrovascular Pathology, National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery "Manuel Velasco Suarez," Mexico City, Mexico.

Correspondence to Juan Nader, MD, Laboratory of Cerebrovascular Pathology, National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery "Manuel Velasco Suarez," Insurgentes Sur No. 3877, CP 14269, Mexico City, Mexico.

Background and Purpose The data of patients with an MRI-confirmed diagnosis of thalamic stroke were analyzed to identify risk factors and to describe the clinical syndromes according to the thalamic arterial territory involved.

Methods We examined the records of all patients with a diagnosis of thalamic stroke confirmed by MRI who attended the National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery "Manuel Velasco Suarez" from 1987 through 1995. A database containing demographic features, risk factors, clinical course, type and mechanism of stroke, and vascular territory was analyzed.

Results Twenty-eight patients (19 men and 9 women; mean age, 48.2 years) had MRI-confirmed thalamic stroke. Infarct was present in 22 patients and hemorrhage in 6. Eleven (39.3%) patients were younger than 45 years. In these young patients, cigarette smoking was the main risk factor associated with the development of stroke. In young patients, isolated and multiple thalamic lesions were present in almost equal proportions. The remaining 17 patients were older adults (45 to 84 years of age). In such patients, most lesions were multiple and were associated with atherosclerosis-predisposing factors. The main distinguishing clinical feature for hemorrhages and paramedian infarcts in comparison with infarcts in the other thalamic territories was the presence of an altered level of consciousness. No patient died as a direct result of the stroke.

Conclusions Thalamic stroke commonly occurs in young adults, and its mechanism is often undetermined. Increased awareness of this type of stroke in young adults should lead to better delineation of its clinical features, course, and management.

Key Words: cerebral ischemia • hemorrhagic stroke • magnetic resonance imaging • thalamus • young adults

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. J. Fabiano, M. A. Horsfield, and R. Bakshi Interhemispheric Asymmetry of Brain Diffusivity in Normal Individuals: A Diffusion-Weighted MR Imaging Study AJNR Am. J. Neuroradiol., May 1, 2005; 26(5): 1089 - 1094. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Carrera, P. Michel, and J. Bogousslavsky Anteromedian, Central, and Posterolateral Infarcts of the Thalamus: Three Variant Types Stroke, December 1, 2004; 35(12): 2826 - 2831. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]