Aims: Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) refers to a group of pathological processes that affect small arteries, arterioles, venules, and capillaries of the brain. We hypothesized that imaging markers of SVD could be associated with neurological deterioration during acute phase of mild/moderate ischemic stroke.
Methods: We performed a prospective cohort with 687 consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke and also with admission NIHSS score below 12 points. Imaging markers of SVD include silent lacunar infarction, deep cerebral microbleeds (CMBs), brain atrophy, periventricular and semiovale white matter hyperintensities, basal ganglia and semiovale enlarged perivascular spaces as well as SVD burden rating scale, which were evaluated and calculated, respectively. Early neurology deterioration (END) was defined as an increment of NIHSS score ≥2 points in the first 72 h after admission.
Results: None of these imaging markers and rating scale of SVD significantly correlated with END after adjusted for major confounders. Post hoc analysis indicated similar negative results in different age, TOAST classification and infarction location subgroups. Only silent infarction (OR 2.42, 95%CI 1.33-5.10) and deep CMBs (OR 2.10, 95%CI 1.08-3.72) seemed to be predictors for END in female patients. However, due to the increased type I error in multiple comparisons, these relationships should not be regarded as statistically significant.
Conclusion: In patients with mild/moderate acute ischemic stroke, imaging markers of SVD did not correlate with END.
Keywords: brain atrophy; cerebral microbleeds; early neurological deterioration; enlarged perivascular spaces; small vessel disease; white matter hyperintensities.