Cardiac arrest maybe is the most characteristic example of causes of hypoxic-ischemic brain damage.

The vulnerability of cortical layers 3, 4, and 5 to anoxia and ischemia, due to its higher metabolic demands, is the cause of cortical laminar necrosis. 

The gyriform high attenuation is believed to be caused by the accumulation of denatured proteins in dying cells and does not represent the presence of hemorrhage.