[The developing profile of cerebral ischemia]

Cerebral ischemia, which may be silently manifested as transitory ischemia attacks or cerebral infarction, is not a stable, but rather, a moving process. In cerebral infarctions the initial ischemic area may change or move in a high percentage of patients and may involve a significant volume (mean of 32%) of neuronal tissue. The negative changes of initial cerebral ischemia which produce a worsening of the same may be due to the progression of the thrombus, appearance of new embolisms, cerebral edema, hemorrhage, blood reperfusion and systemias causes. These changes may determine the conversion of the shaded ischemic area into a definitive, irreversible infarction. The negative changes may also be produced some distance from the initial ischemic area, either because of microthromboembolisms or diaschisis. The positive changes of initial cerebral ischemia which produce as improvement of the same, may be due to collateral circulation, lysis or fragmentation of the embolism and a decrease in cerebral edema. Clinical changes with no evident clinical manifestations may also be produced and may be diagnosed with the use of clinical scales, imaging techniques, ultrasound and hematological and biochemical markers. Acknowledgement of these cerebral ischemia changes in the acute phase may determine the salvation of a part of the brain, and thereby modify the future clinical situation of the patient.