CADASIL patient (post-mortem brain)

Two sequential slices of the brain reveal multiple subcortical infarcts and marked brain atrophy. The lateral and third ventricles are abnormally enlarged, reflective of cerebral volume loss. However, the cerebral cortex is pathologically uninvolved, indicating that the cerebral volume loss is due to pathology within the subcortical structures. (A) A cystic infarct (arrow) is present in the left putamen. (B) Cystic infarcts (black arrows) are present in the right subcortical white matter and in the left globus pallidus. A linear lesion, probably also reflective of a small infarct, is present in the left centrum semiovale (red arrow). (Contributed by Dr. Steve Moore and Dr. Jill Hagenkord of the University of Iowa Department of Pathology.)