New Silent Cerebral Infarction in Patients with Acute Non-Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy Intracerebral Hemorrhage as a Predictor of Recurrent Cerebrovascular Events.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence and related risk factors of new silent cerebral infarction in patients with acute non-cerebral amyloid angiopathy (non-CAA) intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and to explore clinical cerebrovascular event recurrence within 1 year. MATERIAL AND METHODS This prospective study observed 152 patients with non-CAA ICH diagnosed by computed tomography within 3 days after onset. All patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging on day 14 to identify silent cerebral infarction, and their subsequent clinical cerebrovascular events were followed up regularly within 1 year. RESULTS Of the 152 patients, 46 (30.26%) had silent cerebral infarctions. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that the white blood cell (WBC) count, cerebral microbleeds (CMBs), and leukoaraiosis were silent cerebral infarction risk factors. At 1-year follow-up, 34 (22.37%) had clinical cerebrovascular events, with 8 (23.53%) having vascular-related deaths. Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that silent cerebral infarction was the only independent predictor of future clinical cerebrovascular events. CONCLUSIONS Silent cerebral infarction is common during acute non-CAA ICH and is independently related to WBC counts, CMBs, and leukoaraiosis. The risk of clinical cerebrovascular events in non-CAA ICH patients with silent cerebral infarction increases in the following year; thus, silent cerebral infarction may be a useful predictor of recurrent cerebrovascular events.