Silent subcortical brain infarction

Introduction: The silent brain lesions detected by MRI were fairly common not only in first-ever stroke but also in normal elderly subjects. Some recent studies show the possible role of silent sub-cortical brain infarction in ischemic stroke. The aim of this study was to evaluate the frequency of silent sub-cortical brain infarction in acute first-ever ischemic stroke. Methods: In this descriptive study, frequency of silent sub-cortical brain infarction was determined with brain MRI in 200 patients with acute first-ever ischemic stroke. Furthermore, demographic features and frequency of risk factors of ischemic stroke were evaluated. The data were analyzed by SPSS software version 16, using of t-test and Fisher Exact test. Results: In this study, 43% of our participants were men and the rest were women. The mean age of men was 68.75±8.53 and the mean age of women was 66.15±12.45. 38.5% of patients with acute ischemic stroke had silent sub-cortical brain infarction. There was no significant relationship between silent sub-cortical brain infarction and risk factors of ischemic stroke. Conclusion: The frequency of silent sub-cortical ischemic brain lesions was high in ischemic stroke. Silent sub-cortical ischemic brain lesion may be a risk factor for ischemic stroke.