Postoperative brainstem and cerebellar infarcts

Abstract

Patients with postoperative brainstem and cerebellar infarcts present with altered consciousness or vestibulocerebellar syndromes. The major cause of brain infarcts after cardiac surgery is embolism from the heart and aorta. The causes of infarction after general surgery are less clear, but neck positioning during or after surgery may play an important role by promoting thrombi in compressed arteries that later embolize intracranially when neck motion becomes free.