DOI: 10.7488/ds/3063
title: White Matter Hyperintensities Evolution Patterns 1 Year Post-lacunar Stroke and their association with post-stroke cognition
title: White matter hyperintensities in lacunar stroke and post-stroke cognition

description: Lacunar strokes are a common type of ischemic stroke. They are associated with long-term disability, but the factors affecting the dynamic of the infarcted lesion and the brain imaging features associated with them, reflective of small vessel disease (SVD) severity, are still largely unknown. We investigated whether the distribution, volume and 1-year evolution of white matter hyperintensities (WMH), one of these SVD features, relate to the extent and location of these infarcts, accounting for vascular risk factors and to cognition 1 and 3 years after the stroke. This dataset contains the scripts and the voxel-wise results from our investigations in patients [n = 118, mean age 64.9 (SD 11.75) years old] who presented to a regional hospital with a lacunar stroke syndrome within the years 2010 and 2013 and consented to participate in a study of stroke mechanisms.
description: Lacunar strokes are a common type of ischemic stroke. They are associated with long-term disability, but the factors affecting the dynamic of the infarcted lesion and the brain imaging features associated with them, reflective of small vessel disease (SVD) severity, are still largely unknown. We investigated whether the distribution, volume and 1-year evolution of white matter hyperintensities (WMH), one of these SVD features, relate to the extent and location of these infarcts, accounting for vascular risk factors and to cognition 1 and 3 years after the stroke. This dataset contains the scripts and the voxel-wise results from our investigations in patients [n = 118, mean age 64.9 (SD 11.75) years old] who presented to a regional hospital with a lacunar stroke syndrome within the years 2010 and 2013 and consented to participate in a study of stroke mechanisms. All patients had a brain MRI scan at presentation, and 88 had another scan 12 months after. Acute stroke lesions (i.e., recent small subcortical infarcts, RSSI) were identified in 79 patients, but WMH were present in all patients. RSSI volume was not associated with baseline WMH volume, but predicted WMH volume change. RSSI location was associated with the spatial distribution of WMH and the pattern of 1-year WMH evolution. Patients with the RSSI in the centrum semiovale (n = 33) had significantly higher baseline volumes of WMH, recent and old infarcts, than patients with the RSSI located elsewhere. Patients with the RSSI in the internal/external capsule/lentiform nucleus experienced, however, higher increase of WMH volume after a year. Voxel-wise analyses of WMH distribution in patients grouped per RSSI location revealed group differences increased in the presence of vascular risk factors, especially hypertension and recent or current smoking habit. In relation to post-stroke cognition, RSSI location moderated voxel-based associations of WMH change from baseline to 1 year with cognitive scores at 1 and 3 years. WMH increase in the external capsule, intersection between the anterior limb of the internal and external capsules, and optical radiation, was associated with worsening of ACE-R scores 1 and 3 years post-stroke after accounting for the location of the index infarct, age and baseline cognition. Full documentation can be found in RSSI_location_Readme_file.pdf