The Severities of White Matter Lesions Possibly Influence the Recurrences of Several Stroke Types

Background: White matter lesions (WML) have been reported to be a surrogate marker of stroke occurrences. To investigate the recurrent stroke types associated with WML, we prospectively observed recurrences in stroke patients.Methods: We prospectively analyzed the types of stroke recurrence in 807 patients (351 women, 69.8 ± 12.0 years old) consecutively admitted to our hospital with strokes from April 2004 to October 2009. WML were graded using Fazekas grades. Recurrence-free rate curves were generated by the Kaplan–Meier method using the log-rank test.Results: The follow-up period was 31.6 ± 22.2 (range .5-71) months. During this period, 111 strokes recurred. The incidence of all stroke recurrences in 223 patients with grades 2 and 3 was 6.0% per year, which was significantly higher than that seen in 287 patients with grade 0 (2.1% per year, P = .006) and 297 patients with grade 1 (4.3% per year, P 

Source: Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases - May 1, 2014 Category: Neurology Authors: Toshio Imaizumi, Shigeru Inamura, Tatsufumi Nomura Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research