Cerebral hemorrhagic infarction at autopsy: cardiac embolic cause and the relationship to the cause of death.

In 48 patients dying within 15 days following a supra-tentorial cerebral infarct, the presence of hemorrhagic infarction at autopsy was related to a cardiac embolic cause of the infarct, and to the cause of death. Hemorrhagic infarcts were more common among patients dying from brain herniation than among those dying from a non-cerebral cause. Cardiac embolic strokes were more often hemorrhagic at autopsy than strokes without such cause; this could be explained by a significant higher rate of brain herniation and death after embolic stroke. On the other hand infarcts with extended hemorrhages more often tended to have a cardiac than a non-cardiac cause. These data, together with earlier clinical findings suggest that autopsy studies are biased in relating hemorrhagic infarction almost exclusively to a cardiac embolic cause of stroke, although cardiac emboli may produce more extended hemorrhages.