Ischaemic Changes of Different Anatomical Regions or Vascular Territories

Infarction involving the subcortical territory: Basal ganglia infarct

A small hypodense lesion is noted at the right lentiform nucleus in this non-contrast CT  (Figure 1). This is a lacunar infarct and is usually due to small vessel occlusion as a result of chronic hypertension. Lacunar infarcts are defined as lesions that are ≤1.5cm in size on brain imaging.

Patients usually present with one of the 5 lacunar syndromes:

1. Pure motor stroke
2. Pure sensory stroke
3. Mixed sensorimotor stroke
4. Ataxic hemiparesis and
5. Dysarthria-clumsy hand syndrome

This patient presented with acute onset of left sided weakness several years ago. There were no sensory signs nor any cortical or brainstem signs.