Association between H-type Hypertension and White Matter Hyperintensity in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke

White matter hyperintensity (WMH) is related to the increased risk of ischemic stroke. It is unclear if H-type hypertension (H-type HBP) is associated with periventricular WMH (PWMH) and deep WMH (DWMH) of acute ischemic stroke. This study investigated the correlation between H-type HBP and the severity of PWMH and DWMH in acute ischemic stroke.

Consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke were included in this cross-sectional observational study. The patients were divided into the following groups: the normal group, the simple hypertension group (Simple HBP), the simple hyperhomocysteinemia group (Simple HHcy) and the H-type HBP group. MR imaging and relevant clinical variables were obtained from the medical records. PWMH and DWMH were rated by using the Fazekas scale (score 0-3). All patients were defined to have moderate-severe PWMH or DWMH (score 2-3) and no or mild group (score 0-1). Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the relationship between H-type HBP and the severity of PWMH and DWMH.

Among 542 patients, 227 had moderate-severe PWMH and 228 had moderate-severe DWMH. Compared to the no or mild group, patients with moderate-severe PWMH (median age: 73 vs. 63 years) and DWMH (median age: 70 vs. 65.5 years) were older. Compared to the no or mild group, moderate-severe PWMH and DWMH were associated with a history of ischemic stroke (moderate-severe PWMH vs. no or mild group 20.7% vs. 11.7%, p = 0.004；moderatesevere DWMH vs. no or mild group 20.2% vs. 12.1%, p = 0.010); We found that H-type HBP was an independent risk factor for PWMH (OR 2.64, 95% CI 1.34-5.21) and DWMH (OR 3.64, 95% CI 1.82-7.26) after adjusting for the effect of relevant risk factors.

This study suggests that H-type HBP is associated with the severity of PWMH and DWMH in acute ischemic stroke patients, which deserves further prevention measures.