Distribution of cerebral infarcts on computed tomography.

Locations of cerebral infarcts on computed tomography were analyzed on all patients admitted for ischemic stroke or status lacunaris in 1984. Patients who had only one symptomatic infarct, without histories of strokes or transient ischemic attacks, were allocated to group A, the rest made up group B. Group A showed that 47.6% of symptomatic infarcts were lacunes with similar percentages in the following areas: lenticular nucleus (12.7%), internal capsule (12.7%), and subcortical white matter (11.1%). In group A, the cortex (49.2%) was the most common site of infarction, while in group B, it was the subcortical white matter (31.7%). However, if the structures supplied by the basal perforating arteries (basal ganglia, thalami, and internal capsules) were considered as a whole, this area (41.8%) was the most common site for infarcts in group B. Thus, asymptomatic infarcts and those of status lacunaris contributed greatly to the overall distribution of cerebral infarcts.