Infarct core
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
Citation:
Gaillard F, Murphy A, boucher E, et al. Infarct core. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 20 Mar 2025) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-24523
rID:
24523
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Disclosures:
At the time the article was created Frank Gaillard had no recorded disclosures.
View Frank Gaillard's current disclosures
Last revised:
Disclosures:
At the time the article was last revised Andrew Murphy had no recorded disclosures.
View Andrew Murphy's current disclosures
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The infarct core denotes the part of an acute ischemic stroke that has already infarcted or is irrevocably destined to infarct regardless of reperfusion. It is also referred to as established infarct and is in distinction from the penumbra, which remains potentially salvageable.
CT perfusion
On CT perfusion, the infarct core is defined as the area of the brain with 1,2:
- increased mean transit time (MTT)
- markedly decreased relative cerebral blood flow (CBF): <30% normal
- decreased cerebral blood volume (CBV): <40% normal
By contrast, the ischemic penumbra will have only moderately decreased cerebral blood flow and normal or even increased cerebral blood volume due to autoregulation.
It is of note that CT perfusion may overestimate infarct core on admission, especially in the early time window of a stroke, by predicting lesion in areas that will not show infarct on follow-up imaging, a phenomenon known as a ghost infarct core 3.
MRI
On MRI, the infarct core correlates closely with restricted diffusion on diffusion-weighted imaging 1.
Quiz questions
References
- 1. Srinivasan A, Goyal M, Al Azri F et-al. State-of-the-art imaging of acute stroke. Radiographics. 2006;26 Suppl 1 (suppl 1): S75-95. Radiographics (full text) - doi:10.1148/rg.26si065501 - Pubmed citation
- 2. de Lucas EM, Sánchez E, Gutiérrez A et-al. CT protocol for acute stroke: tips and tricks for general radiologists. Radiographics. 2008;28 (6): 1673-87. Radiographics (full text) - doi:10.1148/rg.286085502 - Pubmed citation
- 3. 1. Boned S, Padroni M, Rubiera M, Tomasello A, Coscojuela P, Romero N, Muchada M, Rodríguez-Luna D, Flores A, Rodríguez N, Juega J, Pagola J, Alvarez-Sabin J, Molina CA, Ribó M. Admission CT perfusion may overestimate initial infarct core: the ghost infarct core concept. (2017) Journal of neurointerventional surgery. doi:10.1136/neurintsurg-2016-012494 - Pubmed
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- CT perfusion in ischaemic stroke
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- Infarct core
- Ghost infarct core
- Potential recuperation ratio (PRR)
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