Cerebral Microbleeds Meta-analyses of Prospective Studies: The Need to Consider Both Ischemic and Hemorrhagic Stroke Outcomes

I read with interest the recent meta-analysis by Wang et al,1 reporting a high risk of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) in ischemic stroke/transient ischemic attack patients with cerebral microbleeds—especially those with multiple lesions or taking aspirin. The paper largely corroborates findings of a previous meta-analysis on the topic,2 but also presents some clinically relevant new observations. A key new result is that the presence of a single microbleed (compared to no microbleeds) does not seem to significantly increase the risk of future ICH in this patient population (relative risk: 2.33, 95% confidence interval: .63-8.63, P = .205).
Source: Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Letter to the Editor Source Type: research