Table 1.
Baseline characteristics
| All patients (n=1490) | Patients with cerebral microbleeds (n=311) | Patients without cerebral microbleeds (n=1179) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years | 76 (10) | 78 (10) | 75 (10) | |
| Sex | ||||
| Female | 631 (42%) | 129 (41%) | 502 (43%) | |
| Male | 859 (58%) | 182 (59%) | 677 (57%) | |
| Hypertension | 930/1467 (63%) | 212/303 (70%) | 718/1164 (62%) | |
| Hyperlipidaemia | 661/1469 (45%) | 145/307 (47%) | 516/1162 (44%) | |
| Diabetes | 251 (17%) | 55 (18%) | 196 (17%) | |
| Ischaemic heart disease | 243 (16%) | 66 (21%) | 177 (15%) | |
| Previous ischaemic stroke | 142 (10%) | 41 (13%) | 101 (9%) | |
| Previous intracerebral haemorrhage | 8 (1%) | 3 (1%) | 5 (<1%) | |
| Alcohol use | ||||
| Units per week | 2 (0–9) | 2 (0–7) | 2 (0–10) | |
| >14 units per week | 213/1384 (15%) | 43 (15%) | 170/1092 (16%) | |
| Congestive heart failure | 60 (4%) | 20 (6%) | 40 (3%) | |
| Abnormal renal function | 174 (12%) | 46 (15%) | 128 (11%) | |
| Ethnicity | ||||
| White | 1414 (95%) | 290 (95%) | 1124 (95%) | |
| Asian* | 33 (2%) | 10 (3%) | 23 (2%) | |
| Black | 20 (1%) | 5 (2%) | 15 (1%) | |
| C-reactive protein, mg/L | 4·6 (2·0–12·0) | 4·4 (2·0–12·0) | 4·9 (2·0–11·2) | |
| Platelet count | 221 (185–265) | 221 (185–265) | 222 (183–265) | |
| HAS-BLED score | 3 (2–3) | 3 (2–4) | 3 (3–4) | |
| CHA2DS2VASc score | 5 (4–6) | 5 (4–6) | 5 (4–6) | |
| Anticoagulation started | 1436 (96%) | 300 (96%) | 1136 (96%) | |
| Anticoagulant used | ||||
| DOAC | 542/1436 (37%) | 121/300 (40%) | 421/1136 (37%) | |
| VKA | 894/1436 (62%) | 179/300 (60%) | 715/1136 (63%) | |
| Concurrent antiplatelet use | 57/894 (6%) | 9 (3%) | 48 (4%) | |
| Poor time in therapeutic range† | 133/894 (15%) | 24/179 (13%) | 109/715 (15%) | |
| Anticoagulation stopped during follow-up | 55/1436 (4%) | 13/300 (4%) | 42/1136 (4%) | |
| Total white matter hyperintensity (ARWMC) score | 1 (0–3) | 2 (1–4) | 1 (0–3) | |
| Cerebral microbleeds | .. | 1 (1–3);range 1–107 | NA | |
| cSS presence | 5 (<1%) | 1 (<1%) | 4 (<1%) | |
Data are n (%), n/N (%), mean (SD), or median (IQR). DOAC=direct oral anticoagulant; cSS=cortical superficial siderosis. ARWMC=age-related white matter changes. NA=not applicable. VKA=vitamin K antagonist.
*
Asian denotes Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, or “any other Asian background”.
†
Poor time in therapeutic range for VKA use was defined as <60%.