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Basilar Artery Diameter Is an Independent Predictor of Incident Cardiovascular Events

Basilar Artery Diameter Is an Independent Predictor of Incident Cardiovascular Events

Authors :
Kazuo Kitagawa
Kaori Miwa
Yoshiki Yagita
Manabu Sakaguchi
Hideki Mochizuki
Shuhei Okazaki
Makiko Tanaka
Shigetaka Furukado
Source :
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 33:2240-2244
Publication Year :
2013
Publisher :
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health), 2013.

Abstract

Objective— Basilar arterial (BA) dolichoectasia is associated with cerebral small-vessel disease and stroke. However, the association between moderate dilation of the BA and cerebral small-vessel disease or subsequent cardiovascular events remains unclear. This study aims to clarify the factors related to BA diameter and to clarify whether the BA diameter is an independent predictor of cardiovascular events. Approach and Results— The study subjects comprised 493 outpatients with atherosclerotic risk factors. BA diameter, lacunar infarct, severity of deep white matter hyperintensities, and intracranial steno-occlusive lesions were assessed with MRI and magnetic resonance angiography. Then, we prospectively evaluated the association between BA diameter and cardiovascular events. The BA diameter ranged from 1.1 to 5.2 mm, and only 0.8% of the patients had dolichoectasia. Male sex, the presence of lacunar infarcts, the severity of deep white matter hyperintensities, the fetal-type variation of the circle of Willis, and intracranial steno-occlusive lesions were independently associated with BA diameter. In the mean follow-up of 6.0 years, 91 patients developed cardiovascular events. BA diameter was independently associated with total cardiovascular events after adjusting for age, sex, and conventional risk factors (hazard ratio, 1.55 per 1 mm increase in BA diameter; P =0.009). Conclusions— Increased BA diameter within the normal range is related to both large-vessel disease and cerebral small-vessel disease, and it could be a new predictor of cardiovascular events.

Details

ISSN :
15244636 and 10795642
Volume :
33
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....c663d5fe08df6d894cca6a00698e4983
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1161/atvbaha.113.301467