Objective To investigate the differences in clinical manifestation,laboratory test and imaging between patients with symptomatic and non-symptomatic basilar dolichoectasia (BD).Methods We retrospectively analyzed the patients admitted in our hospital from January 2012 to January 2013,who receiving intracranial computed tomography angiography or magnet resonance angiography.We grouped the patients to symptomatic and non-symptomatic,and further divided the symptoms into vascular events and compressive symptoms.We compared the baseline characteristics of the symptoms in these groups,risk factors of cerebrovascular events,and kidney function between patients with symptomatic and nonsymptomatic BD.Results Comparing with non-symptomatic BD (n--24),the diameter of basilar artery in symptomatic BD patients(n =52) was larger ((4.7 ± 0.9) mm vs (4.2 ± 1.0) mm,t =-2.289,P =0.025),and the level of diastolic blood pressure and uric acid were higher ((94.0 ± 16.7) mmHg vs (86.9--±12.0) mmHg,1 mmHg =0.133 kPa,t =-2.113,P =0.038;(333.3 ± 120.7) μmol/L vs (267.6 ± 84.6) μmol/L,t =-2.724,P =0.008).The group with vascular symptoms (n =18) had greater basilar artery diameter ((4.9 ±0.8) mm vs (4.2 ± 1.0) mm,t =-2.612,P ＜0.05) compared to those without vascular symptoms(n =58).BD patients with compressive symptoms (n =6) had higher level of uric acid ((374.5 ± 51.9) μmol/L vs (281.1 ± 101.6) μmol/L,t =-2.216,P ＜ 0.05) and serum IgA ((1.44 ± 0.28) g/L vs (2.48 ± 0.78) g/L,t =5.660,P ＜ 0.05) than those with non-compressive symptoms (n =70).Conclusions The presence of symptoms in patients with BD is related with the increased diameter of basilar artery.Our results suggest that strict control of blood pressure in the early stage may help to reduce the incidence of the vascular events in BD patients.

Objective To assess the influence of atrial fibrillation on post-thrombolytic hemorrhagic transformation and functional prognosis in acute ischemic stroke patients within different time window.Methods We retrospectively reviewed the clinical and imaging data of patients of acute ischemic stroke with intravenous thrombolysis admitted from June 2009 to October 2013.According to onset-to-needle time,we divided patients into 3 groups and then assessed the effect of the comorbidity with atrial fibrillation on the occurrence of hemorrhagic transformation and favorable outcome (defined as modified Rankin Scale score≤2 at 90 days) after thrombolysis within different time window.Results A total of 345 patients were included in this study,among whom 101 (29.3％) were treated by intravenous thrombolysis within 3.0 h (≤3.0 h),157(45.5％) ＞3.0 h and≤4.5 h,87(25.2％) over 4.5 h(＞4.5 h).Atrial fibrillation was observed in 50.5％ (51/101) patients in ≤3.0 h group,37.6％ (59/157) in ＞3.0 h and≤4.5 h group and 40.2％ (35/87) in ＞ 4.5 h group (x2 =4.362,P =0.113).There were no statistically significant differences among these three groups about the rate of hemorrhagic transformation (hemorrhagic infarction:16.8％ (17/101),22.3％ (35/157),20.7％ (18/87),and parenchymal hematoma:5.0％ (5/101),10.2％ (16/157),10.3％ (9/87),x2 =4.278,P =0.370) and favorable outcome (51.5％ (52/101),53.5％ (84/ 157),47.1％ (41/87),x2 =0.913,P =0.633).Multivariate analysis demonstrated that atrial fibrillation was associated with hemorrhagic infarction for patients in ＞ 4.5 h group (OR =3.637,95％ CI 1.101-12.013,P =0.034),and the presence of atrial fibrillation independently predicted parenchymal hematoma for patients in ＞ 3.0 h and ≤4.5 h group (OR =3.757,95％ CI 1.133-12.457,P =0.030).There was no significant association between atrial fibrillation and favorable outcome at 90 days.Conclusions The presence of atrial fibrillation is not associated with the prognosis in thrombolytic patients.However,it enhanced the risk of parenchymal hematoma if patients were treated within the time window ＞ 3.0 h and ≤4.5h.

Objective To establish a practical and effective predictive model for predicting carotid plaque/thickened intima,and to provide a novel perspective for stroke screening.Methods A retrospective analysis of the community screening data collected from September 2012 to March 2013 was performed.The data of blood pressure,serum lipid profile and fasting blood glucose and ultrasonographic checks of carotid artery were documented.One thousand subjects were randomly sampled from totally 14 226 individuals and divided into 2 groups according to the presence of carotid plaque/thickened intima.Analysis of relevant data of subjects with Logistic regression were performed.Predictive model was established according to the odds ratio for each risk factor and evaluated by C statistics.Results In the randomly sampled 1000 subjects,164 ones were found to be with carotid plaque/thickened intima.The mean age was (60.23 ± 10.09) years old,110 (67.1％) were male.Smoker,hypertension,angina pectoris,diabetes and hyperlipidemia were seen more often in the subjects with carotid plaque/thickened intima.Logistic regression analysis showed the independent risk factors for carotid plaque/thickened intima included advanced age (OR =1.15,95％ CI:1.12-1.84,P＜0.01),male (OR=3.97,95％CI:2.49-6.33,P＜0.01),smoking (OR=1.80,95％CI:1.24-2.56,P =0.002),diabetes (OR =1.80,95％ CI:1.15-2.98,P =0.012),hypertension (OR =2.82,95％ CI:1.15-2.98,P ＜ 0.01),high total cholesterol level (OR =1.63,95％ CI:1.31-2.02,P ＜ 0.01) and high LDL-C (low density lipoprotein-cholesterol) level (OR =1.70,95 ％ CI:1.35-2.14,P ＜ 0.01).The advanced age was found to be the strongest predictive factor in this model.The C statistics of this model is 0.804,which overweighs other models previously reported.The optimal cutoff point for prediction was 3.5,with a sensitivity of 0.713 and a specificity of 0.757.Conclusion An practical and effective model for predicting carotid plaque/thickened intima established from sampling data of community residents is favorable for both stroke screening and primary stroke prevention.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association of serum folate level with the severity of white matter hyperintensity (WMH) and presence of cerebral microbleeds (CMB).

METHODSClinical data of WMH patients from the second affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University school of Medicine during July 2011 and February 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. According to Fazekas score based on T2-Flair images, patients were classified into mild WMH (0-3) and severe WMH (4-6). The presence of CMB was assessed on susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI). Binary logistic analysis was conducted to identify the independent predictors for severe WMH and the presence of CMB.

RESULTSTwo hundred and twenty eight patients with WMH were included, among whom 149(65.35%)had severe WMH. In patients with high folate (≥ 15.68 nmol/L), low folate (6.8-15.67 nmol/L) and folate deficiency (<6.8 nmol/L), the proportions of severe WMH were 52.88%, 73.33% and 89.47%, respectively. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that compared with high folate group, severe WMH was more common in groups with low folate (=2.109, 95%:1.112-4.001,<0.05) and folate deficiency (=6.383, 95%:1.168-34.866,<0.05). Eighty-eight(48.09%) of 183 patients receiving SWI scan presented with CMB. Although the subjects with CMB had lower serum folate level than those without CMB(13.42 vs 16.51 nmol/L,<0.01), binary logistic regression analysis did not reveal the independent association between serum folate level and the presence of CMB after adjusting for hyperhomocysteinemia (>0.05).

CONCLUSIONSLower serum folate level is independently associated with severe WMH, but not with the CMB concurrence.