Cervical and intracranial atherosclerosis and silent brain infarction in Japanese patients with coronary artery disease.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the prevalence of cervical and intracranial atherosclerosis and silent brain infarction in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).


METHODS
Cervical and intracranial atherosclerotic lesions on magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and silent brain infarctions on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were investigated in comparison with the findings of coronary angiography in 133 consecutive patients with CAD.


RESULTS
The mean severity scores of cervical and intracranial MRA lesions were significantly higher in the three-vessel CAD (0.40 and 0.53, respectively) than in the zero-vessel CAD group (0.04 and 0.11). The mean scores of the maximal size and multiplicity of MRI lesion were also significantly greater in the two-vessel (1.00 and 1.44) and three-vessel CAD (0.94 and 1.26) than in the zero-vessel CAD group (0.27 and 0.50). The incidence of MRA lesion was markedly higher in patients with brain MRI lesion than in those without (51.1 vs. 6.5%).


CONCLUSIONS
Serious coronary artery lesions were commonly accompanied by latent atherosclerotic lesions in the cervical and intracranial arteries besides silent brain infarction in patients with CAD.
Uekita
Kazumi
K
Department of Internal Medicine I, Megumino Hospital, Eniwa, Japan.
Hasebe
Naoyuki
N
Funayama
Naoki
N
Aoyama
Hidefumi
H
Kuroda
Kenji
K
Aizawa
Hitoshi
H
Kataoka
Ryo
R
Kikuchi
Kenjiro
K
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed