Etiopathology, Clinical and Imaging Characteristics of Border Zone Strokes

INTRODUCTION: A border zone infarct (BI) is defined as an infarction that is localized to watersheds or border zones in the brain. BI is further classified into cortical border zone infarct (CBZ) and internal border zone infarct (IBZ). This study was conducted to explore the clinical and radiological characteristics of BI. MATERIALS AND METHOD: The study was conducted on eligible 400 acute ischemic stroke patients out of which 52 BI patients (diagnosed by the radiologist on DWI MRI images), patients >18 yrs of age were selected and divided into two groups of IBZ and CBZ infarct patients. The degree of intracranial and extracranial stenosis and characteristics on clinical presentation were assessed. The data were collected and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 software at significance level p-value <0.05. RESULTS: 25% and 75% of CBZ and IBZ patients, respectively, had history of presyncope or syncope before stroke. On vascular evaluation, 3.9% and 51.9% were in MCA and ICA stenosis group, respectively. Evidence of cardio embolism was found in 17.3% of patients. 53.3% of CBZ and 53.8% of IBZ patients were in ICA stenosis group, and 6.7% of CBZ and 7.7% of IBZ patients were in MCA stenosis group, with a statistically insignificant relation (p-value >0.05). CONCLUSION: Association of BI with events causing hypotension or hypovolemia is well-established in our study, association of BI with large vessel atherosclerosis is common, and its contribution to CBZ and IBZ seems to be equal.