Significance of silent infarcts in acute ischemic stroke patients aged 80 years and older.
BACKGROUND
The significance of silent infarcts (SIs) is unknown in very elderly patients with first-ever acute ischemic stroke.


METHODS
Fifty patients aged 80 years and older with first-ever acute ischemic stroke were studied. The conventional risk factors for stroke, the scores of age-related white matter changes, and the findings on echocardiography were compared between patients with and without SIs.


RESULTS
Thirty-eight patients (76%) had one or more SIs. The patients without SIs frequently had atrial fibrillation (50% vs. 13.2%, p = 0.014) or spontaneous echo contrast or thrombi on echocardiography (57.1% vs. 0%, p = 0.026) and showed lower scores on age-related white matter changes (0.5 +/- 0.67 vs. 1.13 +/- 0.58, p = 0.002) than did patients with SIs. There were no differences in other risk factors for stroke between the two groups.


CONCLUSIONS
In patients aged 80 years and older, the absence of SIs with a first-ever acute ischemic stroke may suggest the presence of cardiac embolic sources or atrial fibrillation.
Department of Neurology, Hangang Sacred Heart Hospital, Seoul, South Korea.
Yang-Ki
YK
Minn
Soo-Jin
SJ
Cho
Ju-Hun
JH
Lee
Su-Yeon
SY
Kim
Chul-Ho
CH
Kim
Ki-Han
KH
Kwon
Byung-Chul
BC
Lee
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over / Q000502:physiology*; D001281:Atrial Fibrillation / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed