Increased Cerebral Arterial Pulsatility in Patients With Leukoaraiosis: Arterial Stiffness Enhances Transmission of Aortic Pulsatility

Arterial stiffening reduces damping of the arterial waveform and hence increases pulsatility of cerebral blood flow, potentially damaging small vessels. In the absence of previous studies in patients with recent transient ischemic attack or stroke, we determined the associations between leukoaraiosi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Stroke (1970) 2012-10, Vol.43 (10), p.2631-2636
Main Authors: Webb, Alastair J.S., Simoni, Michela, Mazzucco, Sara, Kuker, Wilhelm, Schulz, Ursula, Rothwell, Peter M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Aorta - diagnostic imaging
Aorta - physiopathology
Arterial Pressure - physiology
Biological and medical sciences
Blood and lymphatic vessels
Blood Flow Velocity - physiology
Blood Pressure - physiology
Cardiology. Vascular system
Cerebrovascular Circulation - physiology
Cross-Sectional Studies
Diseases of the aorta
Female
Humans
Ischemic Attack, Transient - physiopathology
Leukoaraiosis - physiopathology
Male
Manometry
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Middle Cerebral Artery - diagnostic imaging
Middle Cerebral Artery - physiopathology
Neurology
Pulse Wave Analysis
Stroke - physiopathology
Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial
Vascular diseases and vascular malformations of the nervous system
Vascular Stiffness - physiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
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Summary:Arterial stiffening reduces damping of the arterial waveform and hence increases pulsatility of cerebral blood flow, potentially damaging small vessels. In the absence of previous studies in patients with recent transient ischemic attack or stroke, we determined the associations between leukoaraiosis and aortic and middle cerebral artery stiffness and pulsatility. Patients were recruited from the Oxford Vascular Study within 6 weeks of a transient ischemic attack or minor stroke. Leukoaraiosis was categorized on MRI by 2 independent observers with the Fazekas and age-related white matter change scales. Middle cerebral artery (MCA) stiffness (transit time) and pulsatility (Gosling's index: MCA-PI) were measured with transcranial ultrasound and aortic pulse wave velocity and aortic systolic, diastolic, and pulse pressure with applanation tonometry (Sphygmocor). In 100 patients, MCA-PI was significantly greater in patients with leukoaraiosis (0.91 versus 0.73, P
ISSN:0039-2499
1524-4628
DOI:10.1161/STROKEAHA.112.655837