Voxel-Based Lesion Mapping of Cryptogenic Stroke in Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Detailed Magnetic Resonance Imaging Analysis of Distribution Pattern.

Background: Ischemic stroke is one form of cancer-associated thrombosis that can greatly worsen a patient's performance status. The present investigation aimed to elucidate the characteristic distribution pattern(s) of cryptogenic stroke lesions using a voxel-based lesion-mapping technique and examine the differences in clinical manifestations between cryptogenic and conventional strokes in patients with advanced cancer.

Methods: Data from 43 patients with advanced cancer who developed acute ischemic stroke were retrospectively collected. Stroke etiology was grouped into either cryptogenic or conventional stroke etiology according to the ASCO stroke score. Clinical data were reviewed, and voxel-based lesion mapping using diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) was performed to visualize the cross-patient spatial distribution of the lesions.

Results: Of the 43 patients, 25 were classified as having cryptogenic stroke etiology and 18 were classified as having conventional stroke etiology. Median survival time of patients from stroke onset was 96 days for cryptogenic stroke etiology and 570 days for conventional stroke etiology (P = .01). D-dimer of patients was significantly higher in cryptogenic stoke etiology than in conventional stroke etiology (P = .006). Voxel-based lesion mapping showed that DWI hyperintense lesions accumulated at cortical and internal watershed areas of the cerebrum and at the vascular border zone of the superior cerebellar and posterior inferior cerebellar arteries at the cerebellum.

Conclusions: Voxel-based lesion mapping for cryptogenic stroke in patients with advanced cancer showed that lesions accumulated at vascular border zones within the brain both at the cerebrum and at the cerebellum, but not at perforating arterial territories.