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Swollen Middle Cerebral Artery Stroke in the Elderly

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Brain and Spine Surgery in the Elderly

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Abstract

Large territorial infarctions of the brain involving virtually an entire hemisphere may swell, cause tissue shift, and become symptomatic. When associated with clinical signs of brain tissue shift, the affix “malignant” has been used but neither all swelling is “malignant” nor clinically recognizable. This term was coined to describe the rapidity and relentlessness of neurological deterioration which occurs as a consequence of space-occupying cerebral edema in the context of large MCA ischemic infarctions [1–3] although the syndrome had long been described [4, 5]. Deterioration may occur within the first 24 h or may be more protracted over several days following the initial ischemic insult. The incidence is approximately 10–20 per 100,000 person-years often affecting patients that are approximately a full decade younger (56 ± 9.4 years) than the average age of patients presenting with ischemic strokes in general [1].

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery (DAB) and Division of Critical Care Neurology (EFMW), Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    Desmond A. Brown MD, PhD & Eelco F. M. Wijdicks MD, PhD

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  1. Desmond A. Brown MD, PhD
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  2. Eelco F. M. Wijdicks MD, PhD
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Correspondence to Eelco F. M. Wijdicks MD, PhD .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital of Lyon, Lyon, France

    Moncef Berhouma

  2. Hôpital des Charpennes, Hospices civils de Lyon, Villeurbanne, France

    Pierre Krolak-Salmon

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Brown, D.A., Wijdicks, E.F.M. (2017). Swollen Middle Cerebral Artery Stroke in the Elderly. In: Berhouma, M., Krolak-Salmon, P. (eds) Brain and Spine Surgery in the Elderly. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40232-1_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40232-1_23

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