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Excessive White Matter Hyperintensity Increases Susceptibility to Poor Functional Outcomes After Acute Ischemic Stroke

  • The MRI-GENIE and GISCOME Investigators and the International Stroke Genetics Consortium
  • Harvard University
  • University of Hamburg
  • University of Bonn
  • Université de Lille
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • Massachusetts General Hospital
  • Hunter Medical Research Institute, Australia
  • University of Newcastle
  • University of British Columbia
  • University of Maryland, Baltimore
  • Universidade Estadual de Campinas
  • Geisinger
  • Paracelsus Private Medical University
  • Washington University St. Louis
  • Sahlgrenska University Hospital
  • Autonomous University of Barcelona
  • KU Leuven
  • Hunter New England Health
  • University of Florida
  • Mayo Clinic Florida
  • Centogene AG
  • Medical University of Graz
  • University of Miami
  • Royal Holloway University of London
  • Ashford and St Peter's Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Jagiellonian University Medical College
  • Helsinki University Hospital
  • University of Gothenburg
  • Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
  • Austin Health
  • University of Cincinnati
  • Lund University
  • Department of Neurology
  • University of Virginia

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective: To personalize the prognostication of post-stroke outcome using MRI-detected cerebrovascular pathology, we sought to investigate the association between the excessive white matter hyperintensity (WMH) burden unaccounted for by the traditional stroke risk profile of individual patients and their long-term functional outcomes after a stroke. Methods: We included 890 patients who survived after an acute ischemic stroke from the MRI-Genetics Interface Exploration (MRI-GENIE) study, for whom data on vascular risk factors (VRFs), including age, sex, atrial fibrillation, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coronary artery disease, smoking, prior stroke history, as well as acute stroke severity, 3- to−6-month modified Rankin Scale score (mRS), WMH, and brain volumes, were available. We defined the unaccounted WMH (uWMH) burden via modeling of expected WMH burden based on the VRF profile of each individual patient. The association of uWMH and mRS score was analyzed by linear regression analysis. The odds ratios of patients who achieved full functional independence (mRS < 2) in between trichotomized uWMH burden groups were calculated by pair-wise comparisons. Results: The expected WMH volume was estimated with respect to known VRFs. The uWMH burden was associated with a long-term functional outcome (β = 0.104, p < 0.01). Excessive uWMH burden significantly reduced the odds of achieving full functional independence after a stroke compared to the low and average uWMH burden [OR = 0.4, 95% CI: (0.25, 0.63), p < 0.01 and OR = 0.61, 95% CI: (0.42, 0.87), p < 0.01, respectively]. Conclusion: The excessive amount of uWMH burden unaccounted for by the traditional VRF profile was associated with worse post-stroke functional outcomes. Further studies are needed to evaluate a lifetime brain injury reflected in WMH unrelated to the VRF profile of a patient as an important factor for stroke recovery and a plausible indicator of brain health.

Original languageEnglish
Article number700616
JournalFrontiers in Neurology
Volume12
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 10 2021

Keywords

  • acute ischemic stroke
  • brain health
  • brain vulnerability
  • functional independence
  • functional outcome after acute stroke
  • post-stroke outcomes
  • stroke
  • white matter hyper intensity

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