Cerebral white matter lesions are one imaging surrogate for cerebral small vessel disease. These white matter lesions are associated with increased morbidity and mortality in both the general population and ischemic stroke patients.
To investigate whether severe white matter lesions in a cohort of ischemic stroke patients are associated with fewer days spent at home and earlier permanent institutionalization.
We included 391 consecutive patients aged 55-85 years with ischemic stroke admitted to the Helsinki University Central Hospital (the Stroke Aging Memory cohort) with a 21-year follow-up. Hospitalization and nursing home admissions were reviewed from national registers.white matter lesions were rated using magnetic resonance imaging performed three-months poststroke, dichotomized as none-to-moderate and severe. Kaplan-Meier plots log-rank and binary logistic regression (odds ratio) and Cox multivariable proportional hazards model were used to study the association of white matter lesions with days spent at home and the time of permanent institutionalization. Hazards and odds ratio with their 95% confidence intervals are reported.
Severe white matter lesions were associated with fewer days spent at home, and more frequent, and earlier permanent institutionalization (1487 vs. 2354 days; log-rank P?