Table 1.
Demographics, medical history, laboratory data, and stroke etiology of the 448 patients hospitalized due to ischemic stroke in the period from 9/2011 to 10/2012.
| Total (N = 448) | VBC (N = 243) |
Without VBC (N = 205) |
P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Man | 212 (47.3) | 103 (42.4) | 109 (53.2) | 0.029 |
| Age | 76.0 (67.7–83.2) | 78.6 (71.0–84.1) | 72.4 (63.4–79.9) | <0.001 |
| Died in the study | 276 (61.6) | 172 (70.8) | 104 (50.7) | <0.001 |
| Medical history | ||||
| Stroke | 79 (17.6) | 53 (21.8) | 26 (12.7) | 0.013 |
| TIA | 24 (5.4) | 16 (6.6) | 8 (3.9) | 0.292 |
| Hypertension | 323 (72.1) | 185 (76.1) | 138 (67.3) | 0.045 |
| Smoking history | 0.013 | |||
| Positive | 148 (33.0) | 66 (27.2) | 82 (40.0) | |
| Negative | 210 (46.9) | 121 (49.8) | 89 (43.4) | |
| Unknown | 90 (20.1) | 56 (23.0) | 34 (16.6) | |
| Diabetes mellitus | 93 (20.8) | 51 (21.0) | 42 (20.5) | 0.908 |
| Atrial fibrillation | 73 (16.3) | 49 (20.2) | 24 (11.7) | 0.020 |
| Heart failure | 67 (15.0) | 43 (17.7) | 24 (11.7) | 0.085 |
| Hyperlipidemia | 98 (21.9) | 58 (23.9) | 40 (19.5) | 0.302 |
| Usage of statin drug | 90 (20.1) | 53 (21.8) | 37 (18.0) | 0.345 |
| ICA Stenosis 50% or more | 18 (4.0) | 9 (3.7) | 9 (4.4) | 0.811 |
| ICA treatment | 5 (1.1) | 4 (1.6) | 1 (0.5) | 0.381 |
| Myocardial infarction | 23 (5.1) | 15 (6.2) | 8 (3.9) | 0.293 |
| Peripheral arterial occlusive disease | 23 (5.1) | 12 (4.9) | 11 (5.4) | 0.834 |
| Diagnostic procedures | ||||
| MRI | 52 (11.6) | 19 (7.8) | 33 (16.1) | 0.008 |
| CT angiography | 102 (22.8) | 46 (18.9) | 56 (27.3) | 0.042 |
| CT angiography of neck vessels | 105 (23.4) | 48 (19.8) | 57 (27.8) | 0.057 |
| Ultrasound of neck vessels/intracranial ultrasound | 169 (37.7) | 85 (35.0) | 84 (41.0) | 0.204 |
| ECG | 447 (99.8) | 243 (100.0) | 204 (99.5) | 0.478 |
| 24-h ECG | 85 (19.0) | 41 (16.9) | 44 (21.5) | 0.228 |
| Heart ultrasound | 125 (27.9) | 57 (23.5) | 68 (33.2) | 0.026 |
| Laboratory values | ||||
| Cholesterol (mmol/L) | 4.8 (4.0–5.9) | 4.8 (4.0–5.8) | 4.8 (4.0–5.9) | 0.886 |
| Triglycerides (mmol/L) | 1.4 (1.0–1.9) | 1.5 (1.1–2.0) | 1.3 (1.0–1.8) | 0.171 |
| LDL-C (mmol/L) | 2.9 (2.3–3.8) | 2.9 (2.3–3.7) | 3.0 (2.3–3.8) | 0.893 |
| HDL-C (mmol/L) | 1.2 (0.9–1.5) | 1.2 (0.9–1.5) | 1.2 (1.0–1.5) | 0.375 |
| Creatinine (mmol/L) | 79.0 (65.0–98.0) | 79.5 (65.0–99.8) | 79.0 (65.0–98.0) | 0.503 |
| TOAST classification | 0.017 | |||
| LAA | 90 (20.1) | 43 (17.7) | 47 (22.9) | |
| CE | 125 (27.9) | 78 (32.1) | 47 (22.9) | |
| SAO | 46 (10.3) | 19 (7.8) | 27 (13.2) | |
| Other | 184 (41.1) | 103 (42.4) | 81 (39.5) | |
| UND | 3 (0.7) | 0 (0.0) | 3 (1.5) | |
| OCSP stroke classification | 0.002 | |||
| TACI | 85 (19.0) | 46 (18.9) | 39 (19.0) | |
| PACI | 257 (57.4) | 142 (58.4) | 115 (56.1) | |
| LACI | 17 (3.8) | 2 (0.8) | 15 (7.3) | |
| POCI | 86 (19.2) | 50 (20.6) | 36 (17.6) | |
| UND | 3 (0.7) | 3 (1.2) | 0 (0.0) |
Data are presented as number (percentages) or median (quintiles). Abbreviations: VBC: calcification in vertebrobasilar arteries; ICA: internal carotid artery; OCSP: Oxford Community Stroke Project classification; TIA: transient ischemic attack; TOAST: Trial of Org 10 172 in Acute Stroke Treatment; LAA: large artery atherosclerosis; CAE: cardioembolic; SAO: small artery occlusion; UND: undetermined; TACI: total anterior circulation infarct; PACI: partial anterior circulation infarct; LACI: lacunar cerebral infarct; POCI: posterior circulation infarct; UNK: unknown site of the infarct; LDL-C: indicates low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; and HDL-C: indicates high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.