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Background: Vascular cognitive impairment causes significant disability in the elderly and is common following ischaemic stroke. Although the underlying mechanisms and prognostic factors remain unclear, small vessel diseases are known to contribute. Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) are a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) manifestation of small vessel diseases and may contribute to vascular cognitive impairment, particularly frontal-executive functions. We hypothesized that baseline CMBs would predict long-term cognitive outcome, specifically frontal-executive function., Methods: A cohort of consecutive patients found to have CMBs when first referred to a stroke clinic, together with a CMB-free control group matched for age, gender and clinicoradiological characteristics, were invited for follow-up cognitive assessment a median of 5.7 years later. MRI and detailed cognitive assessment (including current intellectual function, verbal memory, visual memory, naming skills, perceptual functions, frontal-executive functions; and speed and attention) were performed at baseline and follow-up. Patients were classified (blinded to MRI and clinical data) as impaired or unimpaired in each domain using predefined criteria. We compared the prevalence of cognitive impairments in each domain at baseline and follow-up and investigated clinical and radiological predictors [including baseline CMBs and white matter changes (WMCs)] of frontal-executive cognitive impairment., Results: Of the original cohort of 55 patients, 13 died without follow-up. Twenty-six of the surviving patients (9 with, 17 without baseline CMBs) agreed to follow-up neuropsychological assessment; 21 of these patients had a repeat MRI scan. The median number of cognitive domains impaired increased, regardless of the presence of baseline CMBs (with baseline CMBs: median 3, range 0-5 at follow-up vs. median 2, range 0-2 at baseline, p = 0.016; without CMBs: median 1.0, range 0-5 at follow-up vs. median 0, range 0-5 at baseline, p = 0.035). Frontal-executive impairment at follow-up was more prevalent in patients with baseline CMBs than in those without (78 vs. 29%, p = 0.038). The presence of baseline CMBs predicted frontal-executive impairment at follow-up (OR 8.40, 95% CI 1.27-55.39, p = 0.027). Fifty percent of patients with CMBs versus 8% of patients without baseline CMBs developed new CMBs (p = 0.047). The severity of WMCs increased; the difference was statistically significant only in patients without baseline CMBs (p = 0.027). There were no new cortical infarcts., Conclusion: In stroke clinic patients, CMBs are consistently associated with frontal-executive impairment; baseline CMBs are associated with frontal-executive impairment at follow-up after 5.7 years. The presence of CMBs has prognostic relevance for long-term cognitive outcome in stroke clinic patients, and may help to optimally target preventive strategies in individuals at highest risk of cognitive decline., (Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Background: Intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) is an uncommon but devastating complication of regular antiplatelet use: identifying high-risk patients before treatment could potentially reduce this hazard. Brain microbleeds on gradient-recalled echo (GRE) T2*-weighted MRI are considered a biomarker for bleeding-prone small-vessel diseases. The authors hypothesised that microbleeds are a risk factor for antiplatelet-related ICH, and investigated this in a hospital-based matched case-control study., Methods: Cases of spontaneous ICH were ascertained, using overlapping methods, from a prospective database of 1017 consecutive unselected patients referred to our stroke unit and associated clinics. For each case of antiplatelet-related ICH, two controls matched for age, sex and hypertension without history of ICH on antiplatelet therapy were selected. Microbleeds were identified by a trained observer blinded to clinical details., Results: Microbleeds were more frequent in antiplatelet users with ICH than in matched antiplatelet users without ICH (13/16 (81%) vs 6/32 (19%), p=0.004) and patients with non-antiplatelet-related ICH (13/16 (81%) vs 15/33 (45%), p=0.03). The frequency of lobar microbleeds was 11/16 (69%) in antiplatelet-related ICH versus 11/33 (33%) in non antiplatelet-related ICH (p=0.032). Microbleeds were more numerous in antiplatelet users with ICH compared with controls (p=0.016). The number of microbleeds was associated with the risk of antiplatelet-related ICH (adjusted OR 1.33 per additional microbleed, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.66, p=0.013)., Conclusions: Brain microbleeds are associated with antiplatelet-related ICH. In patients with a large number of lobar microbleeds, the risk of ICH could outweigh the benefits of antiplatelet therapy. Larger prospective studies to investigate the prognostic significance of microbleeds in regular antiplatelet users are warranted.

Background and Purpose: Little is known about the development of cerebral microbleeds in patients with ischemic stroke. We studied the incidence of new microbleeds in a cohort of patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack screened for microbleeds at baseline., Methods: Twenty-one surviving patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack were followed up after a mean interval of 5.5 years with repeat MRI and clinical assessment. Predictors of new microbleeds were tested in logistic regression., Results: Of patients with microbleeds at baseline, 50% had new microbleeds at follow-up compared with 8% of those without baseline microbleeds (P=0.047). The presence of microbleeds at baseline predicted new microbleeds (OR, 12; 95% CI, 1.02 to 141.34; P=0.048), as did mean systolic blood pressure (OR, 1.28 per unit increase; 95% CI, 1.23 to 1.33; P<0.001). One patient had a stroke (intracerebral hemorrhage) during follow-up., Conclusions: Patients with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack are at risk of developing new microbleeds over 5.5 years, despite most surviving patients remaining clinically stable. Systolic blood pressure is the strongest predictor of microbleed development; better control of hypertension may help prevent new microbleed formation.