Chapter 30 - Middle cerebral artery territory syndromes

Summary

The middle cerebral artery (MCA) and its branches are the most commonly affected brain vessels in cerebral infarction. Prior to the introduction of imaging in living patients, semiology was a prominent factor in neurological research and practice. Many syndromes reflected inspired guesses, confirmed or denied by autopsy data, such postmortem observations often having been obtained long after the acute clinical event. The orbitofrontal branch supplies the orbital portion of the middle and inferior frontal gyri and the inferior orbital part of the frontal lobe. Middle cerebral artery inferior (or posterior) division territory infarcts represent 14% of 2000 patients of the Lausanne Stroke Registry. The posterior parietal and angular arteries may arise individually from the superior or the inferior division. The centrum ovale (or centrum semiovale) of Vieussens comprises the central white matter of the cerebral hemispheres, including the most superficial part of the corona radiata and the long association bundles.