Associations of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease and Chronic Kidney Disease in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke

Background The relationship between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and cerebral small vessel disease has been inconsistently reported. In particular, there is a lack of research focusing on patients with acute ischemic stroke, a key area that could provide important insights into the brain–kidney conn...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Rentang Bi, Yanhao Wei, Pengcheng Li, Haokun Peng, Mohammad Alizadeh, Bo Hu, Yanan Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-05-01
Series:Journal of the American Heart Association: Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.124.038711
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849734639264989184
author Rentang Bi
Yanhao Wei
Pengcheng Li
Haokun Peng
Mohammad Alizadeh
Bo Hu
Yanan Li
author_facet Rentang Bi
Yanhao Wei
Pengcheng Li
Haokun Peng
Mohammad Alizadeh
Bo Hu
Yanan Li
author_sort Rentang Bi
collection DOAJ
description Background The relationship between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and cerebral small vessel disease has been inconsistently reported. In particular, there is a lack of research focusing on patients with acute ischemic stroke, a key area that could provide important insights into the brain–kidney connection. Methods AND RESULTS We established a large‐sample size, multicenter prospective cohort study (SMART [Cerebral Small Vascular Disease Registry Multicenter Clinical Trial]) across 13 subcenters in central China. All participants underwent long‐term, continuous renal function monitoring. CKD was assessed using the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes criteria, defined as abnormal kidney function lasting for at least 3 consecutive months. Magnetic resonance imaging, including T2‐weighted and susceptibility‐weighted imaging, was used to detect markers of cerebral small vessel disease such as white matter hyperintensities, cerebral microbleeds, lacunar infarctions, and enlarged perivascular spaces. Multinomial, binomial, and ordinal logistic regression models were employed, adjusting for demographic, vascular, and stroke‐related factors. Among the 3909 patients with acute ischemic stroke (mean age 62 years, 35.3% female), 307 (7.9%) were diagnosed with CKD. Higher CKD risk grades were correlated with an increased burden of cerebral small vessel disease. After adjusting confounding factors, white matter hyperintensities (odds ratio [OR], 1.841 [95% CI, 1.413–2.400], P<0.001), lacunar infarctions (OR, 3.455 [95% CI, 2.314–5.158], P<0.001), and cerebral microbleeds (OR, 2.514 [95% CI, 1.976–3.199], P=0.005) were significantly more frequent in patients with CKD. Additionally, patients with CKD exhibited higher rates of cardiac embolism (OR, 1.405 [95% CI, 1.067–1.851], P=0.016) compared with other stroke causes. Conclusions Stroke clinicians should recognize CKD as a potentially independent and modifiable risk factor for cerebral small vessel disease.
format Article
id doaj-art-fbff8c2655da4697ad8089fa66c7f20a
institution DOAJ
issn 2047-9980
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Journal of the American Heart Association: Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease
spelling doaj-art-fbff8c2655da4697ad8089fa66c7f20a2025-08-20T03:07:44ZengWileyJournal of the American Heart Association: Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease2047-99802025-05-0114910.1161/JAHA.124.038711Associations of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease and Chronic Kidney Disease in Patients With Acute Ischemic StrokeRentang Bi0Yanhao Wei1Pengcheng Li2Haokun Peng3Mohammad Alizadeh4Bo Hu5Yanan Li6Department of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan ChinaDepartment of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan ChinaDepartment of Ophthalmology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan ChinaDepartment of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan ChinaTongji Medical College Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan ChinaDepartment of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan ChinaDepartment of Neurology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan ChinaBackground The relationship between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and cerebral small vessel disease has been inconsistently reported. In particular, there is a lack of research focusing on patients with acute ischemic stroke, a key area that could provide important insights into the brain–kidney connection. Methods AND RESULTS We established a large‐sample size, multicenter prospective cohort study (SMART [Cerebral Small Vascular Disease Registry Multicenter Clinical Trial]) across 13 subcenters in central China. All participants underwent long‐term, continuous renal function monitoring. CKD was assessed using the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes criteria, defined as abnormal kidney function lasting for at least 3 consecutive months. Magnetic resonance imaging, including T2‐weighted and susceptibility‐weighted imaging, was used to detect markers of cerebral small vessel disease such as white matter hyperintensities, cerebral microbleeds, lacunar infarctions, and enlarged perivascular spaces. Multinomial, binomial, and ordinal logistic regression models were employed, adjusting for demographic, vascular, and stroke‐related factors. Among the 3909 patients with acute ischemic stroke (mean age 62 years, 35.3% female), 307 (7.9%) were diagnosed with CKD. Higher CKD risk grades were correlated with an increased burden of cerebral small vessel disease. After adjusting confounding factors, white matter hyperintensities (odds ratio [OR], 1.841 [95% CI, 1.413–2.400], P<0.001), lacunar infarctions (OR, 3.455 [95% CI, 2.314–5.158], P<0.001), and cerebral microbleeds (OR, 2.514 [95% CI, 1.976–3.199], P=0.005) were significantly more frequent in patients with CKD. Additionally, patients with CKD exhibited higher rates of cardiac embolism (OR, 1.405 [95% CI, 1.067–1.851], P=0.016) compared with other stroke causes. Conclusions Stroke clinicians should recognize CKD as a potentially independent and modifiable risk factor for cerebral small vessel disease.https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.124.038711acute ischemic strokecerebral microbleedscerebral small vessel diseasechronic kidney diseasewhite matter hyperintensities
spellingShingle Rentang Bi
Yanhao Wei
Pengcheng Li
Haokun Peng
Mohammad Alizadeh
Bo Hu
Yanan Li
Associations of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease and Chronic Kidney Disease in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke
Journal of the American Heart Association: Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease
acute ischemic stroke
cerebral microbleeds
cerebral small vessel disease
chronic kidney disease
white matter hyperintensities
title Associations of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease and Chronic Kidney Disease in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke
title_full Associations of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease and Chronic Kidney Disease in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke
title_fullStr Associations of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease and Chronic Kidney Disease in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke
title_full_unstemmed Associations of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease and Chronic Kidney Disease in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke
title_short Associations of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease and Chronic Kidney Disease in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke
title_sort associations of cerebral small vessel disease and chronic kidney disease in patients with acute ischemic stroke
topic acute ischemic stroke
cerebral microbleeds
cerebral small vessel disease
chronic kidney disease
white matter hyperintensities
url https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.124.038711
work_keys_str_mv AT rentangbi associationsofcerebralsmallvesseldiseaseandchronickidneydiseaseinpatientswithacuteischemicstroke
AT yanhaowei associationsofcerebralsmallvesseldiseaseandchronickidneydiseaseinpatientswithacuteischemicstroke
AT pengchengli associationsofcerebralsmallvesseldiseaseandchronickidneydiseaseinpatientswithacuteischemicstroke
AT haokunpeng associationsofcerebralsmallvesseldiseaseandchronickidneydiseaseinpatientswithacuteischemicstroke
AT mohammadalizadeh associationsofcerebralsmallvesseldiseaseandchronickidneydiseaseinpatientswithacuteischemicstroke
AT bohu associationsofcerebralsmallvesseldiseaseandchronickidneydiseaseinpatientswithacuteischemicstroke
AT yananli associationsofcerebralsmallvesseldiseaseandchronickidneydiseaseinpatientswithacuteischemicstroke