[Cerebral infarct following trauma]

Vascular occlusions due to cerebral trauma have always been regarded as great rarities. However, we have found hypo-dense foci of vascular distribution in 3.5% of 3500 CT examinations for trauma during the late phase. Lesions in the vascular territory of the posterior cerebral artery are usually the result of supratentorial pressure rise from epidural and subdural haematomas, leading to compression of the vessels against the edge of the tentorium. Typical infarcts in the territory of the medial and anterior cerebral arteries were found only rarely by CT after cerebral trauma. Infarcts at the watersheds between the three vascular territories were found with surprising frequency and small infarcts were found in the basal ganglia. It is assumed that these were due to ischaemic or hypoxic events due to cardiac or pulmonary complications during the initial phase.