Neurologically asymptomatic patients with a single cerebral lacuna

Sixteen patients with CT evidence of a single cerebral lacuna had no clinical findings to indicate stroke syndromes. All patients had systemic arterial hypertension; 12 (75%) had cardiographic evidence of left ventricular hypertrophy, ten (63%) had radiologic evidence of cardiomegaly, and ten (63%) had clinical signs of hypertensive retinopathy. All lacunas were located in the supratentorial region (seven in the anterior capsular limb, three in the caudate, two in the external capsule, two in the putamen, one in the corona radiata, and one in the thalamus). During the three-year follow-up period, seven had clinical lacunar stroke syndrome, three had cortical stroke, two had myocardial infarction, and one died suddenly of unknown cause.