Kongcun Town Asymptomatic Intracranial Artery Stenosis study in Shandong, China: cohort profile

Abstract

PurposeThe population-based Kongcun Town Asymptomatic Intracranial Artery Stenosis (KT-aICAS) study aims to investigate the prevalence of aICAS and major cardiovascular risk factors (CRFs) or biomarkers related to the development and prognosis of aICAS.ParticipantsThe KT-aICAS study included 2311 rural residents who were aged ≥40 years and living in Kongcun Town, Shandong Province, China. Baseline examination was conducted from October 2017 to October 2018, during which information on demographics, socioeconomics, personal and family medical history, and lifestyle factors was collected through face-to-face interviews, physical examination and blood tests. aICAS was initially screened using transcranial Doppler examination and then diagnosed using magnetic resonance angiography. Atherosclerosis in carotid arteries was diagnosed via carotid ultrasonography. High-resolution MRI was further used to evaluate the vessel wall of aICAS. Neuropsychological assessments were performed in the participants diagnosed with aICAS and the age-matched and sex-matched controls.Findings to dateOf the 2311 participants, 2027 (87.7%) completed the diagnostic procedure and aICAS was detected in 154 persons, resulting in an overall prevalence of 7.6%. The prevalence of aICAS increased with advancing age from 5.1% in participants aged 40–49 years to 12.7% in those aged ≥70 years (p<0.001). aICAS was detected in 305 intracranial arteries, including 221 (72.5%) in the anterior circulation and 84 (27.5%) in the posterior circulation (p<0.001). In addition, major CRFs were highly prevalent among middle-aged and elderly rural dwellers who were free of clinical stroke.Future plansFollow-up examinations will be performed every 3 years following the baseline examination. This study will increase our knowledge about the natural history of aICAS and facilitate studies of aICAS-associated disorders among rural-dwelling Chinese adults, such as ischaemic stroke and vascular cognitive impairment.Trial registration numberChiCTR1800017197.

Association between homocysteine and white matter hyperintensities in rural‐dwelling Chinese people with asymptomatic intracranial arterial stenosis: A population‐based study

“…The current participants originated from the Kongcun Town Study, an ongoing longitudinal study mainly aimed to investigate: (1) the occurrence and distribution of aICAS; (2) major cardiovascular risk factors or biomarkers related to the development and prognosis of aICAS. The detailed study design of Kongcun Town Study has been described previously (Sun et al., 2020 ; Wang, Wang, et al., 2020 ; Wang, Zhao, et al., 2020 ; Xue et al., 2020 ). In brief, from October 2017 to May 2018, all participants aged ≥40 years who were free of a history of clinical stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) were enrolled.…”

Prevalence and cardiovascular risk factors of carotid plaque in rural-dwelling adults: a population-based study in Shandong, China

“…This study was based on the Kongcun Town Asymptomatic Intracranial Artery Stenosis study, which has been described previously in detail [10,11]. Brie y, this is an ongoing, population-based study targeting a total of 2311 rural residents aged ≥40 years and with no history of stroke.…”

“…Brie y, this is an ongoing, population-based study targeting a total of 2311 rural residents aged ≥40 years and with no history of stroke. Of the 2311 participants, 2027 completed questionnaires [11], laboratory blood tests and imaging examinations. In this study, 6 participants were excluded due to missing information on smoking habits (n=5) and drinking habits (n=1).…”

“…As previous described [10,11], data on demographics, CRFs, medical history, anthropometrics and blood biochemical markers were collected. Hypertension was de ned as blood pressure ≥140/90 mmHg, use of antihypertensive drugs, or self-reported hypertension.…”

“…Carotid plaque was detected by ultrasonography examination which has been proved to have high sensitivity and speci city [12]. The measurement and assessment of CP have been described in detail previously [11]. Carotid plaque was de ned as focal intimal-middle lm thickness ≥1.5 mm [13].…”