title: Determinants of cerebral white matter changes in patients with stroke.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cerebral white matter changes (WMC) are commonly observed in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of elderly people. Information about the prevalence of WMC is limited, and little is known about site-specific risk factors for the subcortical and periventricular regions in patients with ischaemic stroke. The study aims to analyse the prevalence and severity of WMC and investigate the risk factors of periventricular WMC (PVWMC) and deep WMC (DWMC) separately in patients with ischaemic stroke.
  
  
  METHODS
  The data were collected between January and December 2013 from a medical centre in southern Taiwan. Every patient underwent a cerebral MRI scan, and WMC was separately rated as PVWMC and DWMC by using the modified Fazekas scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 527 patients who had experienced ischaemic stroke were included. The mean age of the patients was 67.0 ± 12.5 years (range: 31-94) and 62% of them were men. The mean age was significantly different among the four grades of severity in both the PVWMC (P < 0.001) and DWMC (P < 0.001) groups after adjustments for sex and vascular risk factors. Hypertension was independently correlated with severity of DWMC (P = 0.032) but not with PVWMC (P = 0.222). In multiple logistic regressions model, hypertension was a significant independent indicator of DWMC (odds ratio = 4.30; 95% confidence interval = 1.70-10.89).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results suggest a region-specific pathogenesis of cerebral white matter in Asian patients with ischaemic stroke that may differ from those in the general population.
authors: Department of Neurology, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors: P-S
authors: PS
authors: Chou
authors: C-H
authors: CH
authors: Chen
authors: M-N
authors: MN
authors: Wu
authors: Y-H
authors: YH
authors: Lin
authors: C-L
authors: CL
authors: Lai
authors: R-T
authors: RT
authors: Lin
authors: Y-H
authors: YH
authors: Yang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D049292:Leukoaraiosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000639:trends; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020521:Stroke / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D066127:White Matter / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Fazekas scale; cerebral white matter change; hypertension; leukoaraiosis; stroke