The relationship between carotid atherosclerosis and cerebral white matter lesions in the elderly over 60 years old

Abstract

Objective To investigate the association between carotid atherosclerosis and white matter lesions (WML). Methods A cohort of 459 Chinese Han subjects who were over 60 years old with MRI and CTA examination at the same time from April 2012 to March 2014 in the Department of Neurology of Daping Hospital were enrolled and underwent a retrospective analysis. According to the MRI results, all subjects were divided to WML group and non-WML group. All the patients were evaluated with carotid atherosclerosis refer to the NASCET standard. The clinical data of all the subjects were collected and analyzed. The correlations of the incidence of WML with carotid atherosclerosis, degree of stenosis and plaque character were analyzed by logistic associated factor. Results Compared with the non-WML group(n=216), WML group(n=243) had a higher age, and the proportion of smoking, drinking, hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease, dyslipidemia, hyperuricemia, carotid atherosclerosis were obviously higher(all P values 0.05). The character of carotid atherosclerosis plaque between WML group and non-WML group was significantly different (χ2=5.041, P>0.05). After adjustwent by risk factors, lipide plague was positive related to WML (P 0.05, OR=1.97, 95%CI 0.99-2.97). Conclusions Carotid atherosclerosis increases the risk of WML. The extent of stenosis is not associated with WML. The carotid atherosclerosis plaque type is associated with WML, lipide plaque increases the risk of WML. Key words: White matter lesions; Carotid artery diseases; Plaque, atherosclerosis; Degree of stenosis; Plaque character