Bilateral caudate infarct--a case report.

Caudate strokes comprise only a small proportion of all subtypes of strokes. Bilateral caudate infarcts are even rarer and only a few cases have been reported in the literature. We report an 86-year-old woman with bilateral caudate infarcts. She had no past medical history of note. She presented with headache for several days and drowsiness on day of admission. Clinical examination revealed abulia, inability to comprehend or verbalize (acute mutism), right-sided neglect and right-sided hemiparesis. Computed tomographic (CT) scan brain revealed decreased attenuation in both heads of both caudate nuclei with extension across the anterior limb of both internal capsules to involve the lentiform nuclei. Echocardiography showed aortic valve sclerosis, mild mitral and aortic regurgitation and normal left ventricular function. Carotid ultrasound revealed mild stenosis of proximal right internal carotid and left distal common carotid and adjacent proximal internal carotid arteries. She showed initial improvement in the first week, but subsequently had a progressive downward course despite rehabilitation and died 44 days after her stroke. A patient with bilateral caudate infarcts is likely to have poor prognosis for rehabilitation and survival.