Intracortical infarcts in small vessel disease: a combined 7-T postmortem MRI and neuropathological case study in cerebral autosomal-dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The purpose of this study was to report the detection of infarcts of the cerebral cortex in a patient with cerebral autosomal-dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) using high-resolution postmortem 7-T MRI in association with pathological examination.

METHODS

Whole brain high-resolution MRI data were obtained postmortem at 7 T in a 53-year-old patient with CADASIL. These MRI data were used to guide the neuropathological examination of the cortex.

RESULTS

Combined with neuropathology, MRI allowed the delineation of intracortical infarcts confirmed by histological examination in this case. These lesions were not visible on the last in vivo MRI obtained at 1.5 T and were difficult to detect on neuropathological examination only.

CONCLUSIONS

Postmortem high-resolution MRI may help to detect intracortical infarcts in CADASIL and possibly in other small vessel diseases of the brain.