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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Neurol.
Sec. Stroke
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1430231
This article is part of the Research Topic Precision Medicine in the Acute Care of Stroke View all 8 articles

Correlation of Silent Brain Infarcts and Leukoaraiosis in Middle-Aged Ischemic Stroke Patients: A Retrospective Study

Provisionally accepted
Mohammad F. Abdulsalam Mohammad F. Abdulsalam 1Nour Shaheen Nour Shaheen 2*Ahmed Shaheen Ahmed Shaheen 2Yasmeen J. Alabdallat Yasmeen J. Alabdallat 3Abdelraouf Ramadan Abdelraouf Ramadan 4Mostafa Meshref Mostafa Meshref 1Fathy Mahmoud Mansour Fathy Mahmoud Mansour 1Elsayed Abed Elsayed Abed 1Abdel-Ghaffar I. Fayed Abdel-Ghaffar I. Fayed 1Mohamed A. Zaki Mohamed A. Zaki 1Ahmad F. El-Adawy Ahmad F. El-Adawy 1Oliver Flouty Oliver Flouty 5Mohamed Hamed Mohamed Hamed 1
  • 1 Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Cairo, Egypt
  • 2 Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
  • 3 Hashemite University, Zarqa, Zarqa, Jordan
  • 4 Cairo University, Giza, Giza, Egypt
  • 5 University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Cerebrovascular diseases of the brain are usually defined by transient ‎ischemic attacks and strokes. However, they can also cause brain injuries without ‎neurological events. Silent brain infarcts (SBI) and leukoaraiosis are symptoms of both ‎vascular and neurological abnormalities. This study aims to investigate the association ‎between SBI, leukoaraiosis, and middle-aged patients with ischemic stroke. ‎ Methods: A single-centre retrospective study of 50 middle-aged, ischemic stroke ‎patients were studied from November 2022 and May 2023. The patients were divided ‎into two groups based on the presence or absence of leukoaraiosis. History taking, ‎physical examination, brain CT scan, and MRI were all part of the diagnostic process. ‎Metabolic syndrome (MetS ) was also assessed through various factors. The statistical ‎analysis included descriptive statistics, logistic regression analysis, and chi-square test. ‎ Results: Out of the cohort comprising 50 patients, characterized by a mean age of ‎‎52.26 years (SD 5.29), 32 were male, constituting 64% of the sample. Among these ‎patients, 26 individuals exhibited leukoaraiosis, with 17 of them (65.4%) also presenting ‎with SBI. Moreover, within this cohort, 22 patients were diagnosed with MetS, ‎representing 84.6% of those affected. The Multivariate logistic regression analysis ‎showed a strong and independent association between Leukoaraiosis and SBI. ‎Individuals with Leukoaraiosis were nearly five times more likely to have SBI compared ‎to those without Leukoaraiosis. ‎ Conclusions: The study highlights leukoaraiosis as a significant risk factor for SBI, ‎alongside MetS. Advanced imaging techniques have facilitated their detection, revealing ‎a higher prevalence among stroke patients, particularly associated with age and ‎hypertension. Further research is needed to fully understand their complex relationship ‎and develop better management strategies for cerebrovascular diseases, ultimately ‎improving patient outcomes.‎

    Keywords: cerebrovascular disease, ischemic stroke, Leukoaraiosis, Silent brain infarcts, silent lacunar infarcts, metabolic syndrome

    Received: 09 May 2024; Accepted: 08 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Abdulsalam, Shaheen, Shaheen, Alabdallat, Ramadan, Meshref, Mansour, Abed, Fayed, Zaki, El-Adawy, Flouty and Hamed. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Nour Shaheen, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt

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