Cerebellar infarction. Clinical and neuroimaging analysis in 293 patients. The Tohoku Cerebellar Infarction Study Group.

We performed this multicenter study to explore the full spectrum of the clinical characteristics and neuroimaging findings of cerebellar infarction, including patients with mild to severe illnesses.We studied 293 consecutive patients with cerebellar infarction diagnosed by computed tomography and/or magnetic resonance imaging who were admitted to 36 hospitals during 5 years.Cerebellar infarcts constituted 2.3% of the total patients with acute brain infarction. The backgrounds and risk factors were similar to those in patients with infarctions of the cerebral hemispheres. At least 24% were embolic, and the diagnosis of embolism could not be ruled out in 27%. Infarcts involving the superior cerebellar artery (SCA) region (52%) and the posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) region (49%) were far more frequent than those involving the anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA) region (20%). Patients with SCA infarcts exhibited obtunded consciousness and ataxia more frequently than those with PICA infarct...