Significance of Silent Infarcts in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients Aged 80 Years and Older

• Published in: Cerebrovascular diseases (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 20; no. 2; pp. 92 - 95
• Main Authors: Minn, Yang-Ki, Cho, Soo-Jin, Lee, Ju-Hun, Kim, Su-Yeon, Kim, Chul-Ho, Kwon, Ki-Han, Lee, Byung-Chul
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel, Switzerland S. Karger AG 01.01.2005
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over - physiology; Atrial Fibrillation - epidemiology; Atrial Fibrillation - physiopathology; Cerebral Infarction - complications; Cerebral Infarction - diagnostic imaging; Cerebral Infarction - epidemiology; Echocardiography; Female; Humans; Korea - epidemiology; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Original Paper; Risk Factors; Stroke - complications; Stroke - diagnostic imaging; Stroke - epidemiology; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Atrial fibrillation; Silent infarcts; Ischemic stroke
• ISSN: 1015-9770; 1421-9786
• DOI: 10.1159/000086512

Background: The significance of silent infarcts (SIs) is unknown in very elderly patients with first-ever acute ischemic stroke. Methods: Fifty patients aged 80 years and older with first-ever acute ischemic stroke were studied. The conventional risk factors for stroke, the scores of age-related white matter changes, and the findings on echocardiography were compared between patients with and without SIs. Results: Thirty-eight patients (76%) had one or more SIs. The patients without SIs frequently had atrial fibrillation (50% vs. 13.2%, p = 0.014) or spontaneous echo contrast or thrombi on echocardiography (57.1% vs. 0%, p = 0.026) and showed lower scores on age-related white matter changes (0.5 ± 0.67 vs. 1.13 ± 0.58, p = 0.002) than did patients with SIs. There were no differences in other risk factors for stroke between the two groups. Conclusion: In patients aged 80 years and older, the absence of SIs with a first-ever acute ischemic stroke may suggest the presence of cardiac embolic sources or atrial fibrillation.