Coexistent cerebral small vessel disease and multiple infarctions predict recurrent stroke

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To investigate the association of different status of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) and infarction number with recurrence after acute minor stroke and transient ischaemic attack (TIA). METHODS: This study was a post hoc analysis of the Clopidogrel in High-risk Patients with Acute Nondisabling Cerebrovascular Events (CHANCE) trial, and includes 886 patients with acute minor stroke and TIA. The status of CSVD and infarction number was recorded for each individual. Infarction number were classified as multiple acute infarctions (MAIs≥2), single acute infarction (SAI =1), and non-acute infarction (NAI =0). The CSVD burden were grouped into non-CSVD (0 score) and CSVD (1–4 score). The primary outcome was a recurrent stroke at the 1-year follow-up. The secondary outcomes were recurrent ischaemic stroke, composite vascular event (CVE), and TIA. We analyzed the relationships between different status of CSVD burden and infarction pattern with the risk of outcomes using multivariable Cox regression models. RESULTS: Among all 886 patients included in present analysis, recurrent stroke was occurred in 93 (10.5%) patients during 1-year follow-up. After adjusted for all potential covariates, compared with patients with non-CSVD and NAI, patients with CSVD and MAIs were associated with approximately 9.5-fold increased risk of recurrent stroke at 1 year (HR 9.560, 95% CI 1.273–71.787, p=0.028). Similar results observed in ischaemic stroke and CVE. CONCLUSION: The status of CSVD and infarction number predicted recurrent stroke in patients with acute minor stroke and TIA, especially for those with coexistent CSVD and MAIs. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10072-022-06027-6.