PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Joinlambert, Claire AU - Saliou, Guillaume AU - Flamand-Roze, Constance AU - Masnou, Pascal AU - Sarov, Mariana AU - Souillard, Raphaelle AU - Saliou-Théaudin, Marie AU - Guedj, Thierry AU - Assayag, Patrick AU - Ducreux, Denis AU - Adams, David AU - Denier, Christian TI - Cortical border-zone infarcts: clinical features, causes and outcome AID - 10.1136/jnnp-2012-302401 DP - 2012 Aug 01 TA - Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry PG - 771--775 VI - 83 IP - 8 4099 - http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/83/8/771.short 4100 - http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/83/8/771.full SO - J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry2012 Aug 01; 83 AB - Objective To report the clinical features, causes and outcome of cerebral cortical border-zone infarcts BZI (C-BZI).Methods The authors prospectively included patients with MRI-confirmed C-BZI among individuals consecutively admitted in Stroke Unit.Results Forty-five patients presented C-BZI out of 589 with MRI-confirmed cerebral infarcts (7.6%). Particular clinical characteristics existed in C-BZI in comparison with other cerebral infarctions as a whole, including: (1) frequent transient symptoms at onset (27% vs 9%; p<0.001) and low severity score (NIHSS=3.1±3.0 vs 5.2±6.1; p=0.02); (2) early seizures in first 2 weeks (7/45 (15.6%) vs 12/544 (2.2%); p<0.001), even when focusing only on other infarctions involving the cerebral cortex (15.6% vs 4.3%; p<0.01); (3) heterogeneous clinical presentation but specific transcortical aphasia allowing a clinical suspicion of BZI before MRI; and (4) frequently associated internal carotid disease (69%), with subsequent early surgery in 75% of the cases. Following adapted care in stroke unit, C-BZIs' prognosis appeared good (Rankin score ≤2 at D90) for 82% of the patients.Conclusion Some clinical features are overrepresented in such infarctions, including initial transient symptoms preceding the onset of a completed deficit, transcortical aphasia and early seizures. Despite lower initial severity, C-BZIs justify early management in stroke unit, often followed by carotid surgery, leading to an overall good prognosis.