• Han-Jin Cho, Kyung-Hye Kim, Eun-Joo Kim, Tae Hong Lee, Sang Min Sung, Ji Hoe Heo, and Dae Soo Jung.
• Department of Neurology, Pusan National University School of Medicine and Biomedical Research Institute, Busan, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: chohj75@gmail.com.
• J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis. 2018 Dec 1; 27 (12): 3591-3598.

BackgroundUsing high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging (HR-MRI), we investigated the impact of basilar artery plaques that were not detected by magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) on the functional outcomes of patients with acute pontine infarction.MethodsA total of 40 patients with acute pontine infarction and normal basilar findings on MRA prospectively underwent HR-MRI for detection of basilar artery plaques. A relevant plaque was defined as one on the dorsal side of basilar artery, the same side of the ischemic lesion, and the same axial slices of the ischemic lesion. We analyzed the relationship between the relevant basilar artery plaques and the functional outcomes at 3 months.ResultsThe initial National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score (3.5 versus 2.0, P = .012), and the incidences of neurological deterioration (42.9% versus 6.3%, P = .031) and unfavorable functional outcome (71.4% versus 12.5%, P = .001) were higher in patients with relevant basilar artery plaques than in those without. On multiple regression analysis, the relevant basilar artery plaque was a significant and independent predictor of unfavorable functional outcome (odds ratio, 6.662; 95% confidence interval, 1.117-39.735; P = .037).ConclusionsThe presence of a relevant basilar artery plaque was closely related with unfavorable functional outcome in patients with acute pontine infarction even if the patients' MRA showed normal basilar findings.Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

22 keywords...

hide…