Intracranial Mönckeberg’s Atherosclerosis Is Frequently Found in Autopsy Cases of Advanced Stage Malignancy with Cerebral Infarction

SIMPLE SUMMARY: We pathologically compared the cerebral infarction (CI) status in autopsy cases with and without malignancy focusing on the status of intracranial Mönckeberg’s atherosclerosis. Most of Mönckeberg’s atherosclerosis were found in the basal ganglia. Its prevalence in CI cases with malignancy was significantly higher than in malignancy cases without CI and was apparently higher than CI cases without malignancy. The results indicated that Mönckeberg’s atherosclerosis was frequently found in the basal ganglia of CI patients with malignancy and that intracranial Mönckeberg’s atherosclerosis is a potential risk factor for CI in patients with advanced stage malignancy. ABSTRACT: Cerebral infarction (CI) severely affects the prognosis of patients with malignancy. The aim of the study was to compare the pathology of CI between cases with and without malignancy focusing on intracranial Mönckeberg’s atherosclerosis. Among 778 autopsy cases of craniotomy, 53 cases of “cerebral infarction without malignancy group” (CI group), 50 cases of “malignant tumor without CI group” (MT group), and 39 cases of “cerebral infarction with malignancy group” (CM group) were identified. Mönckeberg’s atherosclerosis was mainly found in the basal ganglia and its prevalence in the CM group (38.5%) was significantly higher than in the MT group (12.0%, p = 0.005), and apparently higher than in the CI group (18.9%, p = 0.057). The CI group was significantly older, had higher BMIs, and a greater prevalence of hypertension and atrial fibrillation compared to the CM group. In addition, the prevalence of chronic renal disease was significantly lower in the CM group (2.6%, p = 0.012) than in the CI group (20.8%). Our results indicated that Mönckeberg’s atherosclerosis was often found in the basal ganglia of CM cases and that intracranial Mönckeberg’s atherosclerosis is a potential risk factor for CI in patients with advanced stage malignancy.