The striatocapsular infarction and its aftermaths.

Ischaemic stroke syndromes in the vascular territory of middle cerebral artery may have atypical presentation and radiographic findings because of the variable anatomy of that artery. Therefore, misdiagnosis of these syndromes as neoplastic or infectious processes is not uncommon. This case describes a 69-year-old comatose woman who was referred to us as having 'a brain tumour with massive surrounding oedema.' Further work-up revealed that she had a large left-sided lenticular nuclear infarction with some extension into the surrounding areas-the striatocapsular infarction.