[Infarction of the caudate nucleus or anterior striato-capsular infarction?].

Eight patients with caudate nucleus infarcts are reported. The main clinical findings were often transient facio-brachial weakness (6 patients), depression (4 patients), subcortical aphasia with decreased spontaneous verbal activity (2 patients), and aboulia (2 patients). The ischemic lesions of caudate nucleus often extend into the adjacent anterior limb of the internal capsule and the anterior putamen owing to vascularization pattern. The specific clinical picture of this entity also includes lesions of nearby white matter tracts. Risk factors, etiology of infarcts, clinical findings and prognosis were similar to those reported in striato-capsular infarcts. We suggest replacing the term caudate infarct by anterior striato-capsular infarct.