BackgroundThe detection of early neuropsychological abnormalities as precursors of cognitive decline of vascular origin in patients with lacunar stroke is a subject of increasing interest. The objective of this study was to assess whether there were differences in the performance of a battery of neuropsychological tests in first-ever lacunar stroke patients with and without associated silent multiple lacunar infarctions found incidentally on the brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan.MethodsA total of 72 consecutive patients with first-ever lacunar infarction were studied 1 month after stroke. All patients underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological evaluation, which included the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT), Phonetic Verbal Fluency Test (PMR), Semantic Verbal Fluency Test (category “animals”), Digit Span Forward and Backward from the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-III), and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE).ResultsA total of 38 patients (52.7%) had silent multiple lacunar infarcts, with corona radiata as the most frequent topography (P < 0.023). White matter hyperintensities (leukoaraiosis) were observed in 81.1% of patients with silent multiple lacunar infarcts and in 50% with a single lacunar infarction (P < 0.007). Patients in both groups showed similar scores in the MMSE, but those with associated silent lacunar infarctions showed a poorer performance in the semantic fluency test (P < 0.008) and in short delayed verbal memory (P < 0.001). In both cases, however, leukoaraiosis was not statistically significant in multivariate linear regression models adjusted by confounding covariates. In these models, multiple silent lacunar infarctions and education were independent predictors of poor performance in the semantic fluency test and in short delayed verbal memory.ConclusionsThe presence of silent multiple lacunar infarctions documented on brain MRI scans in patients with first-ever lacunar stroke was associated with mild neuropsychological abnormalities, particularly in the performance of executive functions (semantic fluency) and short delayed verbal memory. According to these findings, in the initial stages of small vessel disease, mild neuropsychological abnormalities appear to be related to lacunes rather than to leukoaraiosis or perivascular hyperintensities of vascular cause.

Symptomatic lacunar ischemic stroke (25% of all brain infarctions) results from occlusion of a single penetrating artery by microatheromas or lipohyalinosis and rarely from an intracranial atheromatous branch disease. Recurrent lacunar stroke may be associated with more severe clinical features and has been involved in producing lacunar state and vascular subcortical dementia. In the first multicenter randomized clinical trial (SPS3) focused on stroke prevention among patients with recent lacunar stroke, the addition of clopidogrel to aspirin not only did not reduced significantly the risk of recurrent stroke, but also increased significantly the likelihood of hemorrhage and fatal outcome. If lacunar stroke is primarily non-atherothromboembolic, secondary prevention aimed at preventing atheroma progression may not be very effective. The efficacy of drugs that improve endothelial function in lacunar stroke patients remains to be studied in the future.

There are few studies analyzing features of ischemic stroke subtypes in women. We assessed gender differences in lacunar stroke subtype based on data collected from a prospective stroke registry in Barcelona, Spain. Lacunar ischemic stroke was diagnosed in 310 (8.1 %) women and 423 (11.1 %) men of a total of 3,808 consecutive stroke patients included in a prospective hospital-based stroke registry, in Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain), over a period of 19 years. Independent factors for lacunar stroke in women were assessed by multivariate analysis. Women accounted for 42 % of all lacunar stroke patients (n = 733) in the registry and 11.4 % of all patients with ischemic stroke (n = 2,704). Very old age (85 years or older) was found in 20.3 % in women versus 11.1 % in men (P < 0.0001). In the logistic regression analysis, obesity [odds ratio (OR) = 4.24], prolonged hospital stay (>12 days) (OR = 1.59), arterial hypertension (OR = 1.50), and age (OR = 1.06) were significant variables independently associated with lacunar stoke in women, whereas peripheral vascular disease (OR = 0.51), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (OR = 0.46), renal dysfunction (OR = 0.13), and heavy smoking (OR = 0.04) were independent variables for lacunar stroke in men. Women with lacunar stroke were remarkably older and presented with obesity and hypertension more frequently than did men. Lacunar stroke severity was similar in men and women. These findings in lacunar stroke patients could be explained by differences in gender for ischemic stroke in general.