Nonrelevant cerebral atherosclerosis is a strong prognostic factor in acute cerebral infarction.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We investigated whether the presence of nonrelevant cerebral atherosclerosis (NRCA) had prognostic value in patients with acute stroke.

METHODS

We compared prognosis in 780 consecutive patients with first-ever acute cerebral infarction who underwent cerebral angiography and diffusion-weighted MRI.

RESULTS

NRCA was present in 267 patients (34.2%). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that the presence of NRCA was independently associated with less improvement in National Institute of Health Stroke Scale score during the first 7 days (P=0.004), and a poor functional outcome (modified Rankin Scale score >2) after 3 months (odds ratio, 2.51; 95% confidence interval, 1.55-4.07). An increase in burden count of NRCA was also associated with poor outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

The presence and burden count of NRCA were associated with poor neurological outcomes in patients with acute cerebral infarction.