1. Association of plasma homocysteine concentration with cerebral white matter hyperintensity on magnetic resonance images in stroke patients.
- Author
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Tseng YL, Chang YY, Liu JS, Su CS, Lai SL, and Lan MY
- Subjects
- Animals, Axons pathology, Cerebral Arterial Diseases blood, Cerebral Arterial Diseases epidemiology, Cerebral Arterial Diseases pathology, Comorbidity, Diabetes Mellitus epidemiology, Dyslipidemias complications, Dyslipidemias epidemiology, Female, Humans, Hyperhomocysteinemia blood, Hyperhomocysteinemia epidemiology, Hypertension epidemiology, Lipids blood, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Obesity epidemiology, Prevalence, Risk, Smoking epidemiology, Stroke etiology, Stroke pathology, Taiwan epidemiology, Brain pathology, Cerebral Arterial Diseases complications, Homocysteine blood, Hyperhomocysteinemia complications, Nerve Fibers, Myelinated pathology, Stroke blood
- Abstract
Background: Homocysteine (Hcy) has been recognized as a risk factor for atherosclerosis. White matter hyperintensity (WMH) on MRI has been regarded as a hallmark for cerebral small vascular disease. The study is to investigate the relationship between plasma Hcy level and WMH on a hospital-based cohort of Taiwanese stroke patients., Methods and Results: A total of 352 consecutive stroke patients (64.7+/-11.2 years) were included. Severity of WMH was semi-quantitatively evaluated with a scoring system. The top WMH score tertile was defined as severe white matter change (sv-WMH). Associations between Hcy tertile levels and sv-WMH were examined, adjusting for demographics and atherosclerosis risk factors. Subjects in the top Hcy tertile (>10.25 micromol/L) had higher WMH scores and prevalence of sv-WMH than those in the middle and in the bottom tertile. The adjusted odds ratio of having sv-WMH was 2.04 (95% confidence interval 1.20-3.47, p=0.008) for the top Hcy level tertile than for the lower two tertiles combined., Conclusion: Hcy is a risk factor for cerebral white matter lesion in stroke patients. Even mild hyperhomocysteinemia can significantly increase severity of cerebral microangiopathy.
- Published
- 2009
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