Transoesophageal echocardiographic findings in patients with ischemic lacunar and nonlacunar stroke.

The aim of this study was to compare risk factors and concomitant potential cardioembolic sources detected by transthoracic (TTE) and transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in patients with lacunar and nonlacunar infarcts. Clinical data of 139 patients with a first episode of ischemic stroke who underwent both TTE and TEE were analysed. Patients were divided into two groups, lacunar (LACI=36), and nonlacunar infarcts (NLACI=103); then the latter group was divided into two subgroups, anterior (ACI=76) and posterior circulation infarct (POCI=27). Presence of hypertension and diabetes mellitus were not significantly different between LACI and NLACI groups. The rate of potential cardioembolic risk factors detected by echocardiography was similar in the NLACI groups. At least one potential cardiac source of embolism was identified in 44% (n=16) of LACI, 52.6% (n=40) of ACI and 55.5% (n=15) of POCI patients. Atrial fibrillation was significantly frequent in the ACI group. No significant differences were found between all groups regarding age, sex, hyperlipidemia, and smoking. Our findings demonstrate that hypertension and diabetes mellitus are equally important in the pathogenesis of both LACI and NLACI groups and there is a need for careful cardiac evaluation in cases even with lacunar infarct.     

Haptoglobin polymorphism and lacunar stroke

Haptoglobin (Hp) 2-2 phenotype has been associated with peripheral and coronary artery disease and risk of vascular complications in diabetic patients, but any association of Hp polymorphism with cerebrovascular disease has not been explored so far. We aimed to study Hp polymorphism in a sample of 124 patients with a rather homogeneous type of cerebrovascular disease, namely first symptomatic lacunar stroke due to small vessel disease, in comparison with a large (n=918) control group. Hp phenotypes were determined using starch gel electrophoresis. Hp1 allele frequency was significantly higher in patients than in controls (0.480 vs. 0.395, p<0.05), mainly due to a lower Hp2-2 phenotype frequency (25.0 vs. 36.3 %; OR 0.59; 95%CI 0.38-0.90; p<0.05). This was even more pronounced in younger (相似文献   

CT显示无症状腔隙性与有症状非腔隙性脑梗死的影响因素差异分析

目的 通过对无症状腔隙性脑梗死的患者以及有症状非腔隙性脑梗死的患者的危险因素进行比较分析,初步探讨这两类疾病的发病机制异同. 方法 选取郑州大学第二附属医院体检中心进行健康检查的年龄在50岁以上的体检者共1989例,检查出48例无症状腔隙性脑梗死(A组)以及51例有症状非腔隙性脑梗死(B组)分别与1862例非脑血管病对照组进行危险因素的单因素分析,然后进行多因素分析,再在两病例组间进行危险因素分布的比较以及数量的比较分析.结果 经过单因素及多因素分析后得到年龄、高血压及吸烟是无症状腔隙性脑梗死的独立危险因素(P＜0.05),而有症状非腔隙性脑梗死的独立危险因素是年龄、性别、糖尿病、酗酒、卒中家族史及颅内动脉狭窄(P＜0.05).组间比较显示糖尿病和颅内动脉动脉狭窄在两组间的分布差异具有统计学意义(糖尿病x2=17.603,P=0.008;颅内动脉狭窄:,x2=19.319,P=0.005).有症状非腔隙性脑梗死的危险因素数量明显多于无症状腔隙性脑梗死,差异具有统计学意义(Z=2598,P=0.009). 结论 无症状腔隙性脑梗死和有症状非腔隙性脑梗死的危险因素存在差异,而血管机制有所不同,糖尿病及颅内动脉狭窄在有症状非腔隙性脑梗死中更多见.     

Progressive lacunar stroke: review of mechanisms, prognostic features, and putative treatments

Lacunar stroke is generally considered to have a fair outcome. However 20-30% of patients with lacunar stroke worsen neurologically in hours or days after onset, reaching eventually an unexpectedly severe disability status. In the field of acute stroke, progressive lacunar stroke remains an important unresolved practice problem, because as yet no treatment does exist proven to prevent or halt progression. Pathophysiology of progression is yet incompletely understood. Hemodynamic factors, extension of thrombosis, excitotoxicity, and inflammation, have been proposed as possible mechanisms of progression. A few clinical studies also aimed at establishing presentation features that may help identifying patients at risk of deterioration. In this paper, we review hypothesized mechanisms of lacunar stroke progression and possible markers of early deterioration. Moreover, based on putative mechanisms and suggestions from reported evidence, we propose a few treatments that seem worthy to be tested by randomized clinical trials.     

Frailty and outcomes in lacunar stroke

BackgroundLacunar strokes (LS) are ischemic strokes of the small perforating arteries of deep gray and white matter of the brain. Frailty has been associated with greater mortality and attenuated response to treatment after stroke. However, the effect of frailty on patients with LS has not been previously described.ObjectiveTo analyze the association between frailty and outcomes in LS.MethodsPatients with LS were selected from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) 2016-2019 using the International Classification of Disease, 10^th edition (ICD-10) diagnosis codes. The 11-point modified frailty scale (mFI-11) was used to group patients into severely frail and non-severely frail cohorts. Demographics, clinical characteristics, and complications were defined. Health care resource utilization (HRU) was evaluated by comparing total hospital charges and length of stay (LOS). Other outcomes studied were discharge disposition and inpatient death.ResultsOf 48,980 patients with LS, 10,830 (22.1%) were severely frail. Severely frail patients were more likely to be older, have comorbidities, and pertain to lower socioeconomic status categories. Severely frail patients with LS had worse clinical stroke severity and increased rates of complications such as urinary tract infection (UTI) and pneumonia (PNA). Additionally, severe frailty was associated with unfavorable outcomes and increased HRU.ConclusionSevere frailty in LS patients is associated with higher rates of complications and increased HRU. Risk stratification based on frailty may allow for individualized treatments to help mitigate adverse outcomes in the setting of LS.     

Retinal fractals and acute lacunar stroke

This study aimed to determine whether retinal fractal dimension, a quantitative measure of microvascular branching complexity and density, is associated with lacunar stroke. A total of 392 patients presenting with acute ischemic stroke had retinal fractal dimension measured from digital photographs, and lacunar infarct ascertained from brain imaging. After adjusting for age, gender, and vascular risk factors, higher retinal fractal dimension (highest vs lowest quartile and per standard deviation increase) was independently and positively associated with lacunar stroke (odds ratio [OR], 4.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.49–12.17 and OR, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.20–2.84, respectively). Increased retinal microvascular complexity and density is associated with lacunar stroke. ANN NEUROL 2010;68:107–111     

A radiologic study of dynamic processes in lacunar dementia

Using magnetic resonance imaging and digitized brain computed tomography, we evaluated 33 elderly patients with documented lacunar stroke and divided them into three groups (nondemented, n = 15; borderline, n = 9; and demented, n = 9) by neuropsychological assessments and DSM III criteria. We evaluated the extent of white matter lesions and the degree of atrophy of specific anatomic structures, such as the corpus callosum, using magnetic resonance imaging and quantified the volumes of the ventricles, the subarachnoid spaces, and the brain parenchyma using digitized brain computed tomography. Our results show that both borderline and demented patients had significantly more extensive white matter lesions than nondemented patients, indicating a significant relation between the extent of white matter lesions and intellectual decline. In addition, borderline and demented patients had significantly larger ventricles and more brain atrophy than nondemented patients; demented patients also had significantly larger subarachnoid spaces than nondemented patients and more brain atrophy than borderline patients. Our findings suggest that in most patients with lacunar stroke, periventricular and subcortical white matter lesions with subsequent white matter atrophy first induce ventricular enlargement, followed by generalized brain atrophy, resulting in dementia.     

Differences in the outcome of patients with TIA versus minor stroke

In the Swedish aspirin low dose trial (SALT) 101 patients were enrolled from the Department of Medicine, Falun. 42 patients had experienced TIA/amaurosis fugax, whereas 59 patients had suffered a minor stroke/retinal infarction. History of hypertension treated or known untreated occurred statistically more frequently in the minor stroke group at randomisation (P less than 0.01) and the mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP) was higher in the minor stroke group during the observation time (P less than 0.05; ANOVA). The minor stroke group had less favourable outcomes according to survival curves (stroke or death) during a mean observation time of 34 months in each group (P less than 0.05 at 29 months). The findings of the present trial suggest that hypertension and the higher mean DBP during the observation time might explain the better outcome of end points of stroke or death in patients with TIA.     

Vascular malformations of the posterior fossa. Clinical and radiologic features

Thirty-one patients with vascular malformations of the posterior fossa were studied to determine their clinical presentation and radiologic diagnosis. The most common clinical presentations were acute hemorrhage (68%, 21/31) and progressive or fluctuating focal neurologic deficits resembling those found in other pathologic processes (19%, 6/31). Trigeminal neuralgia and hemifacial spasm occurred in these patients, but they were rarely initial presenting symptoms. Computed tomography, after infusion of contrast medium, was abnormal in 95% (20/21) of the patients. Angiography established or confirmed the diagnosis in most of the patients; however, a negative angiogram, especially in cases with recent hemorrhage, does not exclude the diagnosis.     

Relevance of transient ischemic attack to early neurological recovery after nonlacunar ischemic stroke

BACKGROUND: We hypothesized that previous transient ischemic attack (TIA) had a favorable effect on early outcome after acute nonlacunar ischemic stroke. METHODS: Data of 1,753 consecutive patients with ischemic stroke collected from a prospective hospital-based stroke registry were studied. A comparison was made of the groups with and without previous TIA. Favorable outcome included spontaneous neurological recovery or grades 0-2 of the modified Rankin scale at hospital discharge. RESULTS: Previous TIA occurred in 55 (11.5%) of 484 patients with lacunar stroke and in 166 (13.1%) of 1,269 patients with nonlacunar stroke. The percentage of nonlacunar ischemic stroke patients with favorable outcome was 21.7% in those with a history of TIA compared to 15% without TIA (p < 0.03). In the lacunar stroke group, differences were not significant. In the multivariate analysis, TIA was an independent predictor of spontaneous in-hospital recovery. CONCLUSIONS: Prior TIA was associated with a favorable outcome in nonlacunar ischemic stroke, suggesting a neuroprotective effect of TIA possibly by inducing a phenomenon of ischemic tolerance allowing better recovery from a subsequent ischemic stroke.     

Clinical characteristics of acute lacunar stroke in women: emphasis on gender differences

There are few studies analyzing features of ischemic stroke subtypes in women. We assessed gender differences in lacunar stroke subtype based on data collected from a prospective stroke registry in Barcelona, Spain. Lacunar ischemic stroke was diagnosed in 310 (8.1 %) women and 423 (11.1 %) men of a total of 3,808 consecutive stroke patients included in a prospective hospital-based stroke registry, in Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain), over a period of 19 years. Independent factors for lacunar stroke in women were assessed by multivariate analysis. Women accounted for 42 % of all lacunar stroke patients (n = 733) in the registry and 11.4 % of all patients with ischemic stroke (n = 2,704). Very old age (85 years or older) was found in 20.3 % in women versus 11.1 % in men (P < 0.0001). In the logistic regression analysis, obesity [odds ratio (OR) = 4.24], prolonged hospital stay (>12 days) (OR = 1.59), arterial hypertension (OR = 1.50), and age (OR = 1.06) were significant variables independently associated with lacunar stoke in women, whereas peripheral vascular disease (OR = 0.51), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR = 0.46), renal dysfunction (OR = 0.13), and heavy smoking (OR = 0.04) were independent variables for lacunar stroke in men. Women with lacunar stroke were remarkably older and presented with obesity and hypertension more frequently than did men. Lacunar stroke severity was similar in men and women. These findings in lacunar stroke patients could be explained by differences in gender for ischemic stroke in general.     

子痫前期或子痫致可逆性后部脑病综合征的临床及影像学分析

目的 探讨子痫前期或子痫致可逆性后部脑病综合征( posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome,PRES)的临床及影像学特点.方法 选择子痫前期或子痫致PRES患者21例,采用回顾性分析方法对临床症状及脑磁共振成像(magnetic resonance imaging,MRI)资料进行分析.结果 主要临床症状:21例患者中癫痫发作18例,头痛16例,意识状态改变15例,视觉障碍12例;PRES病灶分布:顶、枕叶20例,额叶14例,颞叶11例,基底节区11例,胼胝体压部4例,小脑半球3例,脑干1例;PRES病灶分布模式:经典型7例,全脑型7例,额上沟型6例,部分或不对称型1例.结论 子痫前期或子痫致PRES临床症状典型,除顶、枕叶外,额叶、颞叶、基底节区等部位累及常见,多见3种主要病灶分布模式,准确识别其影像学表现对正确诊断具有重要意义.