Are lacunar infarcts serious?

Lacunar stroke is a life-threatening emergency. Some risk factors such as aging and family history are beyond your control, but certain lifestyle behaviors can influence risk.

What does lacunar infarct mean?

Lacunar infarcts, small deep infarcts that result from occlusion of a penetrating artery, account for about a quarter of all ischaemic strokes. These infarcts have commonly been regarded as benign vascular lesions with a favourable long-term prognosis.

Can you have a lacunar infarct and not know it?

Although doctors do not know the precise cause of lacunar infarctions, they are still thought to be due to disease of the blood vessels. Unlike strokes, lacunar infarctions are often not noticed by patients, though subtle symptoms sometimes can be present (trouble with memory or thinking).

Can lacunar cause dementia?

Conclusions: Patients with lacunar infarcts suffer from dementia 4-12 times more frequently than the normal population. Cerebral atrophy and recurrent stroke, as well as other as-yet unclarified factors, are involved in producing dementia.

Can lacunar cause memory loss?

It was concluded that cognitive impairment after acute lacunar infarct is quite common and recent memory is the most often impaired cognitive domain. This may have been caused by the location of the specific lesion as well as by the impairment in “attention or concentration” or “abstraction and judgment”.

Is a lacunar stroke a silent stroke?

Women appear to be at increased risk for silent stroke, with hypertension and current cigarette smoking being amongst the predisposing factors. These types of strokes include lacunar and other ischemic strokes and minor hemorrhages.

Is a lacunar infarct a stroke?

Lacunar infarct was defined as an acute stroke syndrome with a CT lesion compatible with the occlusion of a single perforating artery, consisting of a subcortical (basal ganglia, internal capsule, brainstem), small, sharply demarcated hypodense lesion with a diameter <15 mm.