Prevalence and Correlates of Silent Cerebral Infarcts in the Framingham Offspring Study

Abstract

Background and Purpose-Previous estimates of the prevalence of silent cerebral infarction (SCI) on MRI in community-based samples have varied between 5.8% and 17.7% depending on age, ethnicity, presence of comorbidities, and imaging techniques. We document the prevalence and risk factors associated with SCI at midlife in the community-based Framingham sample. Methods-Our study sample comprised 2040 Framingham Offspring (53% female; mean age, 62Ϯ9 years) who attended the sixth examination (1996( -1998( ), underwent volumetric brain MRI (1999 and were free of clinical stroke at MRI. We examined the age-and sex-specific prevalences and the clinical correlates of SCI using multivariable logistic regression models. Results-At least 1 SCI was present in 10.7% of participants; 84% had a single lesion. SCI was largely located in the basal ganglia (52%), other subcortical (35%) areas, and cortical areas (11%

The Empirical Foundations of Telemedicine Interventions for Chronic Disease Management

“…Considered a precursor to symptomatic stroke and progressive brain damage, silent cerebral infarction is a brain lesion presumably resulting from vascular occlusion found incidentally by magnetic resonance imaging. 69 The prevalence of silent cerebral infarction is estimated to range from 6% to 28% of the population, with higher prevalence associated with increasing age and varying with ethnicity, sex, and risk factor profile. 70 Based on the latest available data, on average, every 40 seconds, someone in the United States has a stroke.…”

Sex differences in the risk profile and male predominance in silent brain infarction in community-dwelling elderly subjects: the Sefuri brain MRI study

“…23 Similarly, the Framingham Offspring Study showed that atrial fibrillation, hypertension, systolic blood pressure and an elevated plasma homocysteine, but neither age nor gender were independently associated with an increased risk of SBI. 11 As most of silent infarcts are subcortical lacunar infarction, risk factors for SBI are similar to those of lacunar infarction or the small vessel disease. Recently, the community-based PATH Through Life Study showed that hypertension was the major treatable risk factor for lacunar infarcts.…”

“…However, the male predominance of silent brain infarction (SBI) was inconsistent in the earlier studies. [7][8][9][10][11] With regard to SBI, the North Manhattan Study found that male sex was independently associated with SBI on a multivariable logistic regression model. 7 Although the Rotterdam Scan Study reported a higher prevalence of SBI among women than men, the sex difference was no longer statistically significant when adjusted for other risk factors.…”

“…9 In contrast, sex was not independently associated with an increased risk of SBI in the Cardiovascular Health Study and Framingham Offspring Study. 10,11 In this study, we conducted a population-based, cross-sectional analysis of brain MRI findings to examine the relationship between sex differences in the risk profile and SBI.…”

Silent Brain Infarcts in Patients with Non-Specific Neurological Symptoms: 1-Year Cross-Sectional Study

“…Silent brain infarctions (SBIs) are the asymptomatic parenchymal lesions believed to be caused by occlusion of the small blood vessels (1,2) . The asymptomatic nature of SBIs can be attributable to long-term ischemic tolerance and chronic ischemic pre conditioning (1) .…”