RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Frequency of Asymptomatic Microbleeds on T2*-Weighted MR Images of Patients with Recurrent Stroke: Association with Combination of Stroke Subtypes and Leukoaraiosis
JF American Journal of Neuroradiology
JO Am. J. Neuroradiol.
FD American Society of Neuroradiology
SP 714
OP 719
VO 25
IS 5
A1 Naka, Hiromitsu
A1 Nomura, Eiichi
A1 Wakabayashi, Shinichi
A1 Kajikawa, Hiroshi
A1 Kohriyama, Tatsuo
A1 Mimori, Yasuyo
A1 Nakamura, Shigenobu
A1 Matsumoto, Masayasu
YR 2004
UL http://www.ajnr.org/content/25/5/714.abstract
AB BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Asymptomatic microbleeds shown by T2*-weighted MR imaging are associated with small-artery diseases, especially with intracerebral hemorrhage. Few studies have focused on the prevalence of microbleeds in patients with recurrent stroke. We investigated frequency of microbleeds in patients with recurrent stroke and association of presence of microbleeds with a combination of stroke subtypes and severity of leukoaraiosis.METHODS: The study population consisted of 102 patients with primary stroke and 54 patients with recurrent stroke. Microbleeds were counted and classified by using T2*-weighted MR imaging with a 1.0-T system.RESULTS: Patients with recurrent stroke showed a significantly higher prevalence of microbleeds (68.5%) than did patients with primary stroke (28.4%) (P < .0001). Among patients with recurrent stroke, the highest frequency of microbleeds occurred in those with intracerebral hemorrhage alone (92.3%), with the next highest frequency occurring in those with a combination of intracerebral hemorrhage and ischemic stroke (76.5%) and then those with ischemic stroke alone (50.0%) (P < .05). Leukoaraiosis was more severe in patients with recurrent stroke than in patients with primary stroke, and correlations between grade of microbleeds and severity of leukoaraiosis were found in patients with primary stroke (r = 0.367, P < .001) and in patients with recurrent stroke (r = 0.553, P < .0001). Logistic regression analysis identified recurrent stroke (odds ratio, 4.487; 95% confidence interval, 1.989−10.120) and leukoaraiosis (odds ratio, 5.079; 95% confidence interval, 2.125−12.143) as being significantly and independently associated with microbleeds.CONCLUSION: Asymptomatic microbleeds are observed to occur frequently in patients with recurrent stroke, either hemorrhagic or ischemic stroke, and are closely associated with the severity of leukoaraiosis.