RISK-FACTORS AND LEUKOARAIOSIS IN STROKE PATIENTS

Objectives - Although leukoaraosis (LA) is a common CT finding, its pa thogenesis remains debated: if small-artery pathology may explain in s ome cases white matter changes, many other factors, such as hemodynami c perturbations, might also lead to LA. To test these hypothesis, we d etermined the types of cerebrovascular risk factors associated with le ukoaraosis in consecutive patients with acute cerebrovascular event. P atients and methods - Using CT-scans, we prospectively studied in 610 patients consecutively admitted for an acute cerebral event, the relat ion between LA and the following cerebrovascular risk factors: age, se x, arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipemia, alcohol con sumption, birth contraceptive pills, previous transient ischemic attac k or stroke, migraine, atrial fibrillation, valvulopathy, coronaropath y, left ventricular hypertrophy, stenosis of the internal carotid arte ry, by means of a multiple linear regression. Relation with cerebral a trophy was also evaluated. Results - We found LA scores to depend on i ncreasing age (p=0.0001), female sex (p=0.0146), history of stroke or TIA (p=0.0051), history or current atrial fibrillation (p=0.0083), inc reasing cerebral atrophy score (p=0.0001), absence of hyperlipemia (p= 0.0003) and absence of alcohol consumption higher than 300 g/week (p=0 .0398). Conclusion - Our findings do not support the hypothesis that, in stroke patients, LA share similar risk factors than small-vessel di sease; other cerebrovascular risk. factors may also contribute to LA, perhaps because of decreased cerebral blood flow.