The Development of Cortical Microinfarcts Is Associated with Intracranial Atherosclerosis: Data from the Chinese Intracranial Atherosclerosis Study

Detection, risk factors, and functional consequences of cerebral microinfarcts

“…Two 3T MRI studies measured the actual size of such lesions smaller than 5 mm: one study 28 reported a median lesion size of 3 mm in 75 patients, with only 8% of lesions larger than 3 mm. Similarly, the other study 31 of 209 patients reported a mean lesion size of 2·8 mm (SD 0·8; 95% CI 1·1–4·5). We therefore propose a size criterion for durable cortical cerebral microinfarcts of less than 4 mm (panel 1).…”

“…Both in patients who attended a memory clinic 28 and in population-based cohorts, 29,30 cerebral microinfarcts co-occur with lacunar infarcts 28,30 and the presence of cerebral microinfarcts is associated with a higher volume of white matter hyperintensities 28–30 and cerebral atrophy. 28 The presence of cerebral microinfarcts has been linked to a history of stroke in population-based cohorts, 29,30 but also among patients admitted to hospital for stroke 14,31,43 and in patients attending a memory clinic with various diagnoses, including subjective cognitive complaints, Alzheimer’s disease, and vascular dementia. 28 This association between cerebral microinfarcts and stroke might also be linked to large vessel disease, because large cortical infarcts on MRI and cerebral microinfarcts have been found to co-occur.…”

“…28 This association between cerebral microinfarcts and stroke might also be linked to large vessel disease, because large cortical infarcts on MRI and cerebral microinfarcts have been found to co-occur. 28,30 Notably, cerebral microinfarcts have been associated with intracranial stenosis in studies of patients recruited from a memory clinic 28 and in patients with ischaemic stroke, 31,43 and commonly occur ipsilateral to the stenosis. 28,43 A 2017 study 15 reported that the incidence of acute cerebral microinfarcts was 14% on diffusion-weighted imaging in patients who had carotid endarterectomy.…”

“…Autopsy studies do indeed suggest that a link might exist between cerebral microinfarct location and different subtypes of small vessel diseases, but such studies are limited by restricted brain coverage. MRI data 26,28,31 from cohorts of patients who attended a memory clinic or had a stroke suggest a predisposition for cerebral microinfarcts to occur in parietal and frontal areas (appendix). However, MRI studies are restricted by the fact that durable subcortical lesions and lesions smaller than 1–2 mm cannot be detected with current techniques.…”

Identification of risk factors associated with developing ocular ischemia syndrome in patients with carotid artery occlusion

“…In our clinical work, we found female CAO patients without brain collateral circulation is more prone to develop OIS, so we choose sex and collateral circulation as the tested risk factors. Besides, we hypothesed that these risk factors of CAO [6] could also be risk factors of developing OIS. These risk factors could help ophthalmologists to develop better treatment and management strategy of early OIS.…”