1. Outcome after acute ischemic stroke is linked to sex-specific lesion patterns.
- Author
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Bonkhoff AK, Schirmer MD, Bretzner M, Hong S, Regenhardt RW, Brudfors M, Donahue KL, Nardin MJ, Dalca AV, Giese AK, Etherton MR, Hancock BL, Mocking SJT, McIntosh EC, Attia J, Benavente OR, Bevan S, Cole JW, Donatti A, Griessenauer CJ, Heitsch L, Holmegaard L, Jood K, Jimenez-Conde J, Kittner SJ, Lemmens R, Levi CR, McDonough CW, Meschia JF, Phuah CL, Rolfs A, Ropele S, Rosand J, Roquer J, Rundek T, Sacco RL, Schmidt R, Sharma P, Slowik A, Söderholm M, Sousa A, Stanne TM, Strbian D, Tatlisumak T, Thijs V, Vagal A, Wasselius J, Woo D, Zand R, McArdle PF, Worrall BB, Jern C, Lindgren AG, Maguire J, Bzdok D, Wu O, and Rost NS
- Subjects
- Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Bayes Theorem, Brain Mapping, Brain Stem blood supply, Brain Stem diagnostic imaging, Cerebral Revascularization methods, Cohort Studies, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Ischemic Stroke diagnostic imaging, Ischemic Stroke therapy, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Risk Factors, Sensorimotor Cortex blood supply, Sensorimotor Cortex diagnostic imaging, Severity of Illness Index, Sex Factors, Thalamus blood supply, Thalamus diagnostic imaging, Treatment Outcome, Brain Stem pathology, Ischemic Stroke pathology, Sensorimotor Cortex pathology, Thalamus pathology
- Abstract
Acute ischemic stroke affects men and women differently. In particular, women are often reported to experience higher acute stroke severity than men. We derived a low-dimensional representation of anatomical stroke lesions and designed a Bayesian hierarchical modeling framework tailored to estimate possible sex differences in lesion patterns linked to acute stroke severity (National Institute of Health Stroke Scale). This framework was developed in 555 patients (38% female). Findings were validated in an independent cohort (n = 503, 41% female). Here, we show brain lesions in regions subserving motor and language functions help explain stroke severity in both men and women, however more widespread lesion patterns are relevant in female patients. Higher stroke severity in women, but not men, is associated with left hemisphere lesions in the vicinity of the posterior circulation. Our results suggest there are sex-specific functional cerebral asymmetries that may be important for future investigations of sex-stratified approaches to management of acute ischemic stroke.
- Published
- 2021
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