Ischaemic stroke of the cortical „hand knob“ area: pathomechanisms and clinical course

Background: Cortical ischaemic stroke affecting the precentral “hand knob“ area is a rare but well known stroke entity. To date, little is known about the underlying pathomechanisms and the clinical course. Methods: Thirty patients admitted to our service between 2003 and 2007 were included in the study on the basis of an acute ischaemic infarct of the cortical “hand knob“ area confirmed by diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with contralateral hand paresis. Retrospective analysis of the following data at the time point of admission was performed: clinical and epidemiological data, MRI parameters…