Clinical utility of evaluating intracranial artery stenosis and silent brain infarction to predict the presence of subclinical coronary artery disease in ischemic stroke patients.

OBJECTIVE: We have recently reported the prevalence of subclinical cardiovascular diseases and the association between the presence of subclinical coronary artery disease (CAD) and vascular risk factors in ischemic stroke patients. The relationship between the presence of subclinical CAD and elements of brain ischemia including intracranial artery stenosis, silent brain infarction (SBI), and white matter lesions remains unclear. We determined the usefulness of elements of brain ischemia to predict the presence of subclinical CAD in ischemic stroke patients.

METHODS: The study group comprised 100 patients with first-ever ischemic stroke who had no history of CAD. Intracranial artery stenosis on magnetic resonance angiography and SBI and white matter lesions on magnetic resonance imaging were investigated in comparison with CAD defined as > or =50% stenosis on coronary computed tomographic angiography.

RESULTS: Thirty-six patients had subclinical CAD. Intracranial artery stenosis (78.1% vs 35.1%, p<0.0001) and SBI (69.4% vs 46.9%, p=0.03) were more prevalent in patients with subclinical CAD. Of the patients with both intracranial artery stenosis and SBI, 61% had subclinical CAD. Multiple regression analyses showed that the presence of subclinical CAD was independently associated with intracranial artery stenosis; <50% stenosis (OR 8.01 95%CI 2.02 to 31.9; p<0.01), > or =50% stenosis (OR 19.5 95%CI 2.77 to 137.4; p<0.01), and multiple SBI (OR 3.85 95%CI 1.23 to 12.0; p<0.05).

CONCLUSION: The evaluation of intracranial artery stenosis and SBI may be useful to identify ischemic stroke patients at high risk for subclinical CAD.