Secondary degeneration of substantia nigra following striatal infarction

Because there are the fiber connections between striatum and substantia nigra, the striatal infarction may result in the secondary degeneration of the substantia nigra. In recent years, there have been a series of characteristics on secondary lesions of the substantia nigra, pathophysiological mechanisms, and the studies of how to detect the patients with striatal infarction in vivo. This article reviews the advances in this field. Key words: Brain infarction;  Corpus striatum;  Substantia nigra;  Magnetic resonance imaging