A 55 year-old woman with presented with confusion, right sided weakness and new atrial fibrillation.

Diffusion weighted MRI axial images.  Note the multiple areas of diffusion abnormalities that indicate acute infarction. These areas are present in both middle cerebral and the left posterior cerebral artery distributions. The large infarct in the left frontal lobe resulted in the patient's symptoms of aphasia and right sided weakness.  This pattern of multiple, acute cortical strokes usually signifies a shower of emboli, typically from a cardiac source. In this patient, the atrial fibrillation was the likely cardiac source.

Revised 05/20/06.
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