Computed tomography of an acute hemorrhagic cerebral infarct in a dog

Computed tomography (CT) was performed on an eleven-year-old dog four days after an acute onset of seizures and neurologic deficits. A ring-enhancing, intra-axial lesion associated with edema, facial deviation and non-uniform ventricular compression was identified in the left frontal lobe. An area of ill-defined hyperdensity, compatible with hemorrhage, was noted on corresponding CT images prior to contrast enhancement. At post-mortem examination, a focal, hemorrhagic infarct, characterized by liquefaction necrosis, marked gliosis and neovascularization, was found. The etiology of the infarction could not be identified. The CT findings, however, were similar to those seen in humans with cerebral infarction due to embolic occlusion and subsequent hemorrhage. These findings and the pathophysiologic mechanisms behind them are discussed