Please help me understand CT scan of head results..

[thumbody2130]

Can someone please help me understand what this means..  I recently had a CT scan of the head due to nearly passing out.  I got the records today, and the only thing I see that concerns me is two things on the CT report impressions:
#1. "old lacunar farct in the left basal ganglia"
#2. "Periventricular while matter changes consistent with chronic deep white matter ischemia."
Actually # 2 bothers me the most... can anyone give me some insight on these two things.. Does it indicate something or just mean nothing...
Thank you very much in advance,

[thumbody2130]

Thank you for your reply.. so... I had a follow up visit with my cardiologist a few days ago, and he did not mention this at all.. Is it something I should ask him about specifically or just let it go.. I certaintly don't need anything more on my plate, but also do not want to just let it go if it's something I need to check further.

[PaulMD]

Hi there.

Both of the above findings are consistent with blood vessel problems.  Narrowing of the blood vessels supplying the brain such as that caused by hypertension, diabetes, or high blood cholesterol can cause some parts of the brain to starve with oxygen and cause infarcts (death of some brain cells) and white matter changes (abnormalities in some parts of the nerve cell).

Your nearly passing out may indeed be a TIA or a Transient Ischemic Attack.  This can be evaluated further by angiogram of the blood vessels supplying the brain, to see which vessel/s are constricted.

It is also important to correct any underlying disorders such high cholesterol, diabetes or hypertension to lessen the possibility of more vessels being affected

Regards.