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Objective This study was performed to evaluate the potential predictors of poor outcomes associated with diabetes-specific microvascular pathologies and to analyze their influence on clinical outcomes by adjusting for other well-known prognostic factors in patients with acute ischemic stroke. Methods We analyzed 1389 consecutive adult patients with acute ischemic stroke and explored the relationship among clinical characteristics, laboratory measurements, imaging findings, and 6-month functional outcomes. Results The final study population comprised 216 patients with both acute ischemic stroke and diabetes mellitus who were followed up for 6 months. A multiple logistic regression analysis of poor outcomes revealed the following independent predictors: leukoaraiosis severity [odds ratio (OR), 7.38; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.40-38.86, per 1-point increase), diabetic nephropathy (OR, 10.66; 95% CI, 1.10-103.43), and the admission National Institutes of Health stroke scale score (OR, 2.58; 95% CI, 1.36-4.92 per 1-point increase). In this model, admission hyperglycemia and intracerebral hemorrhagic transformation were not independent prognostic predictors. Conclusion Microvascular complications (such as nephropathy) caused by diabetes mellitus predict an unfavorable clinical outcome after acute ischemic stroke. Diabetic nephropathy may partly affect post-stroke prognosis by means of exacerbating leukoaraiosis.

Objective To explore the possible correlation between uric acid levels and leukoaraiosis (LA). Methods This cross-sectional study enrolled patients who presented with some neurological discomfort (e.g. dizziness, headache, mild cognitive impairment). Potential demographic and clinical risk factors associated with LA, including sex, age, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, alcohol consumption, dyslipidaemia, plasma fibrinogen, D-dimer, uric acid, and homocysteine, were investigated using univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Results A total of 268 patients were enrolled in the study and divided into the LA group ( n = 164) and the non-LA group ( n = 104). Compared with the non-LA group, uric acid was significantly higher in the LA group (mean ± SD: 356.49 ± 121.85 µmol/l versus 289.96 ± 102.98 µmol/l). Multivariate logistic regression analyses showed that uric acid was an independent risk factor for LA (odds ratio 1.285; 95% confidence interval 1.062, 1.556). Conclusion Hyperuricaemia was an independent risk factor for leukoaraiosis in Chinese patients.

Background: The effect of preexisting small vessel disease on outcomes of patients with ischemic stroke treated with i.v. thrombolysis is not fully understood., Aim: We aim to investigate the effect of combined leukoaraiosis and lacunes as detected on unenhanced brain computer tomography at baseline on clinical outcomes after i.v. thrombolysis., Methods: We analyzed data from the Canadian Alteplase for Stroke Effectiveness Study. Small vessel disease was assessed on baseline computer tomography rating for leukoaraiosis and lacunes. We dichotomized the burden of small vessel disease to "absent or moderate" and "severe." Clinical outcomes at 90 days included excellent outcome (mRS = 0-1), good outcome (mRS = 0-2), and the occurrence of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage. Sensitivity analysis was performed on two age groups (≤80 versus >80). We ran logistic regression adjusting for confounders to evaluate independent effect of small vessel disease on outcomes., Results: There were 820 patients with available brain computer tomography with mean age (±SD) of 71.3 (±13.2), 455 (55.5%) were male. Of these, 123 (15%) patients had severe small vessel disease at baseline. Age group analysis revealed significant associations of small vessel disease only in patients aged ≤80. After adjustment for confounders, presence of severe small vessel disease reduced the chances of both excellent (OR = 0.42, 95% CI = 0.24-0.74) and good outcome (OR = 0.35, 95% CI = 0.21-0.58) and with an increased risk of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (OR = 5.91; 95% CI = 2.40-14.57)., Conclusion: When considered together as radiological expressions of small vessel disease, presence and severity of severe leukoaraiosis and lacunes on baseline computer tomography scan are associated with poor clinical outcomes in patients treated with i.v. thrombolysis., (© 2016 World Stroke Organization.)

Leukoaraiosis (LA) describes abnormal changes in the cerebral white matter frequently seen on CT and MRI in older adults. Its appearance indicates mild brain injury, and it is often regarded as a mark of senile dementia. Through the analysis of related risk factors of 6000 patients with LA diagnosed by cranial MRI in our department, we found that age, cerebral infarction, lacunar infarction, history of brain hemorrhage, and increased triglycerides were risk factors for LA, and the relative risk odds ratio values were 2.135 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.874-2.501), 3.330 (95% CI = 1.922-3.997), 3.412 (95% CI = 2.986-3.512), 3.611 (95% CI = 2.054-9.147), and 1.457 (95% CI = 1.058-1.769), respectively. Through the identification of the risk factors for LA and effective interventions, the occurrence of dementia, stroke, and premature death may be effectively prevented.

Studies in transgenic mice overexpressing amyloid precursor protein (APP) demonstrate impaired autoregulation of cerebral blood flow (CBF) to changes in arterial pressure and suggest that cerebrovascular dysfunction may be critically important in the development of pathological Alzheimer's disease (AD). Given the relevance of such a finding for guiding hypertension treatment in the elderly, we assessed autoregulation in individuals with AD. Twenty persons aged 75±6 years with very mild or mild symptomatic AD (Clinical Dementia Rating 0.5 or 1.0) underwent (15)O-positron emission tomography (PET) CBF measurements before and after mean arterial pressure (MAP) was lowered from 107±13 to 92±9 mm Hg with intravenous nicardipine; (11)C-PIB-PET imaging and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were also obtained. There were no significant differences in mean CBF before and after MAP reduction in the bilateral hemispheres (-0.9±5.2 mL per 100 g per minute, P=0.4, 95% confidence interval (CI)=-3.4 to 1.5), cortical borderzones (-1.9±5.0 mL per 100 g per minute, P=0.10, 95% CI=-4.3 to 0.4), regions of T2W-MRI-defined leukoaraiosis (-0.3±4.4 mL per 100 g per minute, P=0.85, 95% CI=-3.3 to 3.9), or regions of peak (11)C-PIB uptake (-2.5±7.7 mL per 100 g per minute, P=0.30, 95% CI=-7.7 to 2.7). The absence of significant change in CBF with a 10 to 15 mm Hg reduction in MAP within the normal autoregulatory range demonstrates that there is neither a generalized nor local defect of autoregulation in AD.