Bilateral infarction in the territory of the anterior cerebral arteries.

An elderly hypertensive man had extensive bilateral infarction in the distribution of the anterior cerebral arteries. The circle of Willis was fully formed, but occlusion of the dominant anterior cerebral artery, aggravated and perhaps caused by postlaparotomy hypotension, produced the dramatic lesions, causing akinetic mutism. This stroke pattern occurs in various settings and does not require an anomalous azygous unilateral supply to both anterior cerebral arteries.