Flow-mediated dilatation and intima-media thickness in patients with lacunar infarctions
J Pretnar-Oblak1, M Sabovic, T Pogacnik
1Department of Neurology, Ljubljana Medical Centre, Ljubljana, Slovenia. janja.pretnar@kclj.si
Insights
Patients with lacunar infarction (LI) show impaired endothelial function, indicated by reduced flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), despite similar intima-media thickness (IMT) compared to those with similar risk factors. This suggests additional endothelial impairment in LI patients.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Medicine
- Neurology
- Vascular Biology
Background:
- Lacunar infarctions (LI) are small strokes often associated with cerebrovascular risk factors.
- Endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis are key contributors to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess systemic endothelial function and atherosclerotic changes in patients with lacunar infarctions (LI).
- To compare flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) and intima-media thickness (IMT) in LI patients versus those with similar risk factors (SR) and healthy controls.
Main Methods:
- Investigated FMD and IMT in 20 LI patients, 21 SR patients, and 21 healthy controls.
- Participants were age- and gender-matched.
Main Results:
- FMD was significantly more impaired in LI patients (0.4% ± 5.0%) compared to SR patients (3.8% ± 4.8%) and healthy controls (7.9% ± 6.0%) (P ≤ 0.01).
- Intima-media thickness (IMT) was similarly increased in both LI and SR patient groups.
Conclusions:
- Patients with LI exhibit diminished FMD, indicating endothelial dysfunction, even when IMT is comparable to individuals with similar risk factors.
- These findings suggest that lacunar infarctions are associated with an additional layer of endothelial impairment beyond general atherosclerosis.
Objectives:
To evaluate systemic endothelial function and atherosclerotic changes in patients with lacunar infarctions (LI) we examined flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) and intima-media thickness (IMT) and compared them to patients with similar risk factors (SR) and healthy controls.
Methods:
FMD and IMT were investigated in patients with LI (20 patients, aged 60.9 +/- 7.3 years), 21 age- and gender-matched patients with SR and 21 healthy controls.
Results:
FMD was more impaired in patients with LI (0.4% +/- 5.0%) compared to patients with SR (3.8% +/- 4.8%) and healthy controls (7.9% +/- 6.0%) (P < or = 0.01), whereas IMT was similarly thickened in both groups of patients.
Conclusions:
We found that patients with LI have a diminished FMD, but a similar IMT, compared to patients with SR. Our results reveal that for a given level of atherosclerosis patients with LI have additional endothelial impairment.
