A comparative clinical and neuroimaging study of venous and arterial strokes

Eighty four patients with clinical signs of acute cerebrovascular disease were examined. According to MRI, 20 patients were diagnosed with venous infarction, and 64 patients were diagnosed with arterial infarction. Venous strokes developed more frequently in patients at a relatively young age and in females. The clinical picture of venous stroke is characterized by subacute and slow development of clinical manifestations; prevalence of cerebral symptoms over focal symptoms; symptoms indicative of cerebral venous discirculation; a tendency towards relatively rapid regression of cerebral symptoms. According to MRI, the localization of infarction in venous stroke does not coincide with territories of blood supply to the main intracranial arteries; the form of foci is irregular, and their contours are rough and indistinct; signs of cerebral venous discirculation, intracranial venous stasis, and vasogenic edema are visualized.