BENIGN CLINICAL COURSE IN PATIENTS WITH REGRESSION OF SMALL VESSEL DISEASE

BackgroundThe effect of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) and intracranial arterial stenosis (ICAS) on stroke outcomes remains unclear.MethodsData of 1045 patients with minor stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA) were obtained from 45 sites of the Clopidogrel in High-Risk Patients with Acute Non-disabling Cerebrovascular Events (CHANCE) trial. We assessed the associations of burdens of CSVD and ICAS with new strokes and bleeding events using multivariate Cox regression models and those with modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores using ordinal logistic regression models.ResultsAmong the 1045 patients, CSVD was present in 830 cases (79.4%) and ICAS in 460 (44.0%). Patients with >1 ICAS segment showed the highest risk of new strokes (HR 2.03, 95% CI 1.15 to 3.56, p=0.01). No association between CSVD and the occurrence of new strokes was found. The presence of severe CSVD (common OR (cOR) 2.01, 95% CI 1.40 to 2.89, p<0.001) and >1 ICAS segment (cOR 2.15, 95% CI 1.57 to 2.93, p<0.001) was associated with higher mRS scores. Severe CSVD (HR 10.70, 95% CI 1.16 to 99.04, p=0.04), but not ICAS, was associated with a higher risk of bleeding events. Six-point modified CSVD score improved the predictive power for bleeding events and disability.InterpretationCSVD is associated with more disability and bleeding events, and ICAS is associated with an increased risk of stroke and disability in patients with minor stroke and TIA at 3 months. CSVD and ICAS may represent different vascular pathologies and play distinct roles in stroke outcomes.Trial registration numberNCT00979589

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Lenticulostriate artery combined with neuroimaging markers of cerebral small vessel disease differentiate the pathogenesis of recent subcortical infarction

Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism ◽

10.1177/0271678x21992622 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 0271678X2199262

Author(s):

Shuai Jiang ◽

Tian Cao ◽

Yuying Yan ◽

Tang Yang ◽

Ye Yuan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Resonance ◽

Middle Cerebral Artery ◽

Cerebral Artery ◽

Small Vessel Disease ◽

Cerebral Small Vessel Disease ◽

Small Vessel ◽

Vessel Disease ◽

Branch Atheromatous Disease ◽

Lenticulostriate Artery ◽

Subcortical Infarction

Recent subcortical infarction (RSI) in the lenticulostriate artery (LSA) territory with a non-stenotic middle cerebral artery is a heterogeneous entity. We aimed to investigate the role of LSA combined with neuroimaging markers of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) in differentiating the pathogenic subtypes of RSI by whole-brain vessel-wall magnetic resonance imaging (WB-VWI). Fifty-two RSI patients without relevant middle cerebral artery (MCA) stenosis on magnetic resonance angiography were prospectively enrolled. RSI was dichotomized as branch atheromatous disease (BAD; a culprit plaque located adjacent to the LSA origin) (n = 34) and CSVD-related lacunar infarction (CSVD-related LI; without plaque or plaque located distal to the LSA origin) (n = 18). Logistic regression analysis showed lacunes (odds ratio [OR] 9.68, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.71–54.72; P = 0.010) and smaller number of LSA branches (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.36–0.96; P = 0.034) were associated with of BAD, whereas severe deep white matter hyperintensities (DWMH) (OR 0.11, 95% CI 0.02–0.71; P = 0.021) was associated with CSVD-related LI. In conclusion, the LSA branches combined with lacunes and severe DWMH may delineate subtypes of SSI. The WB-VWI technique could be a credible tool for delineating the heterogeneous entity of SSI in the LSA territory.

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The Omega-3 Fatty Acid Eicosapentaenoic Acid (EPA) Correlates Inversely with Ischemic Brain Infarcts in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation

Nutrients ◽

10.3390/nu13020651 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 651

Author(s):

Martin F. Reiner ◽

Philipp Baumgartner ◽

Andrea Wiencierz ◽

Michael Coslovsky ◽

Nicole R. Bonetti ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Atrial Fibrillation ◽

Fatty Acid ◽

Small Vessel Disease ◽

Small Vessel ◽

Omega 3 ◽

Total N ◽

Ischemic Brain ◽

Omega 3 Fatty Acid ◽

Vessel Disease ◽

Brain Infarcts

The omega-3 fatty acid (n-3 FA) eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) reduces stroke in patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Whether EPA affects stroke or cerebral small vessel dis-ease in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) remains uncertain. EPA, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA), and alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) were determined by gas chromatography in 1657 AF patients from the Swiss Atrial Fibrillation study. All patients underwent brain MRI to detect ischemic brain infarcts, classified as large noncortical or cortical infarcts (LNCCIs); markers of small vessel disease, classified as small noncortical infarcts (SNCIs), number of microbleeds, and white matter lesion (WML) volumes. Individual and total n-3 FAs (EPA + DHA + DPA + ALA) were correlated with LNCCIs and SNCIs using logistic regression, with numbers of microbleeds using a hurdle model, and WML volumes using linear regression. LNCCIs were detected in 372 patients (22.5%). EPA correlated inversely with the prevalence of LNCCIs (odds ratio [OR] 0.51 per increase of 1 percentage point EPA, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.29–0.90). DPA correlated with a higher LNCCI prevalence (OR 2.48, 95%CI 1.49–4.13). No associations with LNCCIs were found for DHA, ALA, and total n-3 FAs. Neither individual nor total n-3 FAs correlated with markers of small vessel disease. In conclusion, EPA correlates inversely with the prevalence of ischemic brain infarcts, but not with markers of small vessel disease in patients with AF.

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