Cerebral white matter lesions are associated with the risk of stroke but not with other vascular events: The 3-city dijon study
Stroke. 2009-05-14; 40(7): 2327-2331
DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.109.548222
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1. Stroke. 2009 Jul;40(7):2327-31. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.109.548222. Epub 2009 May
14.
Cerebral white matter lesions are associated with the risk of stroke but not with
other vascular events: the 3-City Dijon Study.
Buyck JF(1), Dufouil C, Mazoyer B, Maillard P, Ducimetière P, Alpérovitch A,
Bousser MG, Kurth T, Tzourio C.
Author information:
(1)INSERM Unit 708, Paris, France.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: White matter lesions (WMLs) have been shown to be
associated with the risk of stroke in previous studies but little is known about
the prediction of other vascular events. We evaluated the risk of stroke and
other vascular events according to WML volume in a large population-based sample.
We also studied WML volume by type (deep or periventricular) in relation to these
events.
METHODS: The 3-City Study is a population-based prospective cohort of people aged
>or=65 years followed up for, on average, 4.9 years. Among them, 1643
participants free of prevalent vascular events had quantitative measurements of
WML volume at baseline using a fully automatic method. The risks of incident
major vascular events according to WML volume were evaluated using Cox
proportional hazards models.
RESULTS: The risk of incident stroke significantly increased with increasing
baseline WML volume and was multiplied by 5 for those in the highest quartile of
WML volume. Nonstroke vascular events’ incidence was not associated with WML
volumes, whatever their type.
CONCLUSIONS: WMLs are an independent predictor of stroke in the elderly. This
association is specific because WMLs are not associated with the risk of other
vascular events.
DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.109.548222
PMID: 19443799 [Indexed for MEDLINE]