BILATERAL THALAMIC INFARCTIONS - A RARE PRESENTATION OF POSTERIOR CIRCULATION STROKE

Bilateral thalamic infarctions are rare presentations of stroke, as a result of a complex combination of risk factors and a predisposing vessel distribution. Thalami and midbrain arterial supply arises from many perforating blood vessels with a complex distribution with many variations. One rare variation, named the artery of Percheron, is a solitary arterial trunk that arises from one of the proximal segments of a posterior cerebral artery and supplies the paramedian thalami and the rostral midbrain bilaterally. Occlusion of this artery results in bilateral thalamic and mesencephalic infarctions. We describe one patient with a presumed occlusion of the artery of Percheron.