Infectious Etiologies of Stroke

Julie G. Shulman; Anna M. Cervantes-Arslanian

doi:10.1055/s-0039-1687915

Seminars in Neurology, Table of Contents

Semin Neurol 2019; 39(04): 482-494
DOI: 10.1055/s-0039-1687915

Review Article

Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

Infectious Etiologies of Stroke

Authors

Julie G. Shulman

¹Boston University School of Medicine, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts

²Department of Neurology, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts
Anna M. Cervantes-Arslanian

¹Boston University School of Medicine, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts

²Department of Neurology, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts

³Department of Neurosurgery, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts

⁴Department of Medicine, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts

Abstract

Central nervous system (CNS) infections are a frequently underappreciated potential etiology of cerebrovascular disease. Highlighted in this review are a selection of infectious agents that lead to cerebrovascular complications through various mechanisms including multifocal vasculopathy, focal infiltrative vasculitis and vasospasm, and direct vessel wall invasion and thrombus formation. Diagnosis of stroke due to underlying CNS infection requires a high index of clinical suspicion and careful consideration of neuroimaging, serum, and cerebrospinal fluid studies in addition to a detailed history and neurologic examination. Prompt and targeted treatment is essential in these conditions, which frequently herald a poor prognosis. Specifically, cerebrovascular complications associated with varicella zoster virus, syphilis, tuberculosis, aspergillosis, and acute bacterial meningitis are addressed here in detail.

Keywords

stroke - infection - vasculitis - vasculopathy

Full Text

References

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