Silent Cerebral Infarcts in Patients with Ischemic Infarction

Silent cerebral infarcts occur in patients with chronic nonvalvular atrial fibrillation and asymptomatic or symptomatic carotid stenosis. There is not a well-defined prevalence of asymptomatic lesions in patients with transient ischemic attack or completed strokes. We attempted to determine the occurrence rate of silent brain infarction in a hospital population, including a comparison of the risk factors with those of symptomatic infarction and an evaluation of the relevance of infarction size and location.