Correlation between FLAIR Vascular Hyperintensities and Routine NIHSS Scores in Patients with Acute Cerebral Infarction Receiving Intravenous Thrombolytic Therapy

Objective: To explore the relationship between FLAIR vascular hyperintensities (FVH) and the early neurofunctional status of patients with acute middle cerebral artery infarction after intravenous thrombolysis.Methods: One hundred and seventeen patients divided into FVH-positive (n = 86) and FVH-negative groups (n = 31). We compared the demo-graphics, cerebrovascular disease risk factors, neurological examinations and imaging examinations between the two groups, and analyzed the relationship between the changes of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores and the inci-dence of FVH.Results: In the FVH-positive group, the decline of the average NIHSS scores obtained 24 hours after intravenous thrombolytic therapy were significantly less than that of the FVH-negative group. Also, the average 24-hour follow-up NIHSS scores were significantly higher in the FVH-positive group than that of the negative group. There were no significant differences between the FVH-positive group and the FVH-negative group in age, gender, risk factors for cerebrovascular disease, length of hospitaliza-tion, the baseline NIHSS scores and the NIHSS scores at discharge.Conclusions: FVH can be applied to predict the short-term clinical efficacy of intravenous thrombolytic therapy in patients with acute middle cerebral infarction, which would help to assist in the selection of patients who might benefit more from thrombolytic therapy.