Goal: Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) leads to cognitive decline, gait disturbances, mood changes, and an increased risk of stroke. The goal of this study is to describe the relationship between a composite radiographic CSVD score and all-cause mortality.
Materials and methods: Data were collected from a prospective registry of patients with and without cerebrovascular disease from November 2010 through April 2018. The radiographic Total CSVD Score (tSVD) ranges from 0 (minimal disease) to 4 (severe disease), based on detection of lacunar infarcts, cerebral microbleeds, perivascular spaces, and subcortical or periventricular white matter hyperintensities. All-cause mortality served as the primary endpoint. The independent relationship between CSVD burden and all-cause mortality was assessed using Cox regression models with significance being P < .05.
Findings: Four hundred and forty-nine patients were included (mean age, 63 years; 50.1% [225 of 449] women). The hazard ratio for mortality significantly increased with advancing score (1.92, P = .014 score 1; 2.92, P < .001 score 2; 4.23, P < .001 combined scores 3 and 4). Significance remained despite adjustment for coexistent cerebrovascular risk factors aside from age.
Conclusions: The clinically practical tSVD score may serve as a predictor for all-cause mortality in populations with high disease prevalence. Continued investigations are needed to better understand the effects of risk factor modification on mortality and pathogenesis with the goal of developing disease modifying therapies.
Keywords: Cerebrovascular disease—stroke—cerebral microangiopathy—mortality—stroke imaging.
Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Inc.