Cognitive performance after lacunar stroke correlates with leukoaraiosis severity

Background: This study investigates the effect of leukoaraiosis on patients presenting with cognitive impairment after lacunar stroke. Methods: Fourty-six patients with cognitive impairment and newly discovered lacunar stroke detected by brain magnetic resonance imaging underwent neuropsychological testing. Results: Patients with both lacunar infarct and leukoaraiosis performed less well on cognitive measures, compared to those with lacunar infarcts alone. Additionally, leukoaraiosis severity inversely correlated with cognitive performance. Conclusions: In patients with lacunar stroke, presence of leukoaraiosis is associated with worse performance in multiple cognitive domains. These findings suggest lacunar infarcts plus leukoaraiosis is a common etiology for vascular dementia. Copyright (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel.