Total small vessel disease burden and functional outcome in patients with ischemic stroke

Background Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is comprised of lacunes, cerebral microbleeds (CMBs), white matter hyperintensities (WMHs), and enlarged perivascular space (EPVS). We investigated the cumulative effect of SVD on 3-month functional outcome following ischemic stroke using the total SVD score. Methods The total SVD score of 477 acute ischemic stroke patients with adequate brain MRI was analyzed. We used multivariable ordinal logistic regression analysis to investigate the independent impact of total SVD score on ordinal modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score at 3-month after ischemic stroke. Results Mean age was 66±14 years, and 61% were men. The distribution of the total SVD score from 0 to 4 was 27%, 24%, 26%, 16%, and 7%, respectively. The proportion of mRS scores 2 or greater was 16% and 47% in total SVD score 0 and 4, respectively. Multivariable ordinal logistic regression analysis results showed that compared with the total SVD score of 0, total SVD scores of 2, 3, and 4 were independently associated with higher mRS scores with adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of 1.68 (1.02–2.76), 2.24 (1.25–4.00), and 2.00 (1.02–4.29). Lacunes, CMBs, WMHs but not EPVS were associated with mRS scores at 3 months. However, the impact of each SVD marker on stroke outcome was smaller than that of the total SVD score. Conclusion We found an independent association between total SVD scores and functional outcome at 3 months following ischemic stroke. The total SVD score may be useful for stratification of patients who are at a high-risk of unfavorable outcomes.