Background
Intracranial arterial calcification (ICAC) is frequently detected on head computed
tomography and has been found to be associated with ischemic stroke by recent clinical
studies.
Aims
Based on a hospital-based study, we aimed to compare the occurrence of cerebral microembolic
signals (MES) among stroke patients with different degrees of ICAC, which may indicate
the potential mechanisms linking ICAC and ischemic stroke in intracranial atherosclerosis
patients.
Methods
This is a post-hoc analysis of our previous clinical study in 2005-2007, recruiting
consecutive ischemic stroke patients with middle cerebral artery territory infarctions
and good temporal window for MES monitoring. The degrees of ICAC in the Circle of
Willis, especially calcification in the ipsilateral intracranial internal carotid
artery (iICA), were evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively on unenhanced
head computed tomography.
Results
Among the 68 recruited patients, MES was detected in 26 patients (38.24%). The overall
degree of ICAC in the Circle of Willis was similar between patients with and without
MES. For calcification in ipsilateral iICA, the presence of MES was more frequent
in the high extent group (widest arc of calcification ≥90°) than in the low extent
group (54.2% versus 29.5%, P = .046). Logistic regression found that a high extent ipsilateral iICA calcification
was an independent risk factor of MES (odds ratio: 3.134; 95% confidence interval,
1.029-9.543; P = .044).
Conclusions
MES is frequently detected in patients with a high extent of ipsilateral iICA calcification,
which suggests that a high extent of iICA calcification indicates artery vulnerability
and accounts for the occurrence of microemboli in the corresponding artery.
Key Words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 03, 2016
Accepted:
October 10,
2016
Received in revised form:
September 7,
2016
Received:
July 25,
2016
Footnotes
Grant support: This work was supported by Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF) (Project Code: 11120161).
Identification
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2016.10.007
Copyright
© 2017 National Stroke Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
