Silent cerebral infarction associated with coronary artery disease

To investigate the relationship of coronary artery disease and silent cerebral infarction, 50 patients who underwent coronary arteriography and cranial magnetic resonance imaging were studied. The patients were divided into three groups. The incidence of silent cerebral infarction (chiefly lacunar infarction) was significantly higher in patients with old myocardial infarction and in those with angina pectoris than in the control group (80, 78 and 29%, respectively, p < 0.05). Silent cerebral infarction is considered to be a risk factor for symptomatic cerebrovascular disease, so more attention should be focussed on the prevention of stroke in patients with coronary artery disease.