Lacunar cerebral infarction

Lacunar infarction (Iacunar infarCTion) refers to small penetrating arteries deep in the cerebral hemisphere or brainstem. On the basis of long-term hypertension, lesions in the blood vessel wall cause luminal occlusion and form small infarcts. Common sites of disease include the putamen, caudate nucleus, inner capsule, thalamus and pontine. The arteries at these sites are mostly small arteries called deep perforating branches, which are actually the peripheral branches of the cerebral arteries, also known as terminal branches. Due to the limited blood supply of the deep perforating branch artery, the obstruction of a single branch only causes a small area of ​​ischemic necrosis of the brain tissue, which forms a so-called cavity. Lacunar infarction is a cystic lesion with a diameter of 0.2 to 15 mm, which is multiple. Small infarcts are only slightly larger than the diameter of the blood vessel. After the necrotic tissue is absorbed, the small capsule cavity can remain.