Table 1.

Characteristics of the 49 included studies.

1st Author, (Year)	Type of Stroke, Study Design, Participants (n)	Demographics: Age (Years), Gender (M/F), Education (Years or Level), Marital/Occupational Status, Income, BMI	Cerebrovascular Risk Factors (n)	Medication (n)	Previous Stroke (n)	Follow up Time	Leukoaraiosis/ WMH Assessment	Time of MRI	Scale of Stroke Severity and Prognosis/Clinical Outcome	Main Findings
Hemorrhagic transformation
Wei, (2017) [41]	Cardioembolic stroke due to atrial fibrillation or rheumatic heart disease, Longitudinal, 251	68.49 ± 12.43, 99M/152F	Hypertension (n = 105), Diabetes mellitus (n = 27), Hyperlipidemia (n = 3), Alcohol (n = 43), Smoking (n = 44)	Anticoagulants (n = 26), Antiplatelets (n = 32), Statins (n = 12),	51	Until discharge	Fazekas score, Van Swieten scale and ARWMC scale	Within 5 days after admission	NIHSS and GCS score on admission	Higher median NIHSS score, lower median GCS score, larger infarct areas, lower levels of serum total cholesterol or low-density lipoprotein on admission, periventricular and frontal moderate to severe LA are associated with higher HT risk.
Wang, (2022) [42]	Acute Cerebellar Infarction, Longitudinal, 190	61.84 ± 12.16, 141M/49F	Hypertension (n = 149), Diabetes mellitus (n = 77), Atrial Fibrillation (n = 20), Alcohol (n = 49), Smoking (n = 58)	Single Antiplatelet (n = 68), Dual Antiplatelets (n = 95), Anticoagulants (n = 5), Both Antiplatelets and Anticoagulants (n = 22)	58	14 days	Fazekas score	Cranial CT or MRI within 72 h of symptom onset and again whenever HT was suspected or within 14 days after stroke onset	n/a	Atrial fibrillation, infarct diameter and WMH are independent risk factors for HT.
Early neurological deterioration or improvement (within 1st week)
Feng, (2014) [43]	Small subcortical infarcts (<1.5 cm in diameter) Longitudinal, 435	71.1 ± 8.89, 219M/216F	Hypertension (n = 356), Diabetes (n = 118), Dyslipidemia (n = 218), Coronary Artery Disease (n = 69), Smoking (n = 87)	n/a	n/a	1 week	ARWMC scale	n/a	NIHSS on admission and every day for a week	Age, diabetes mellitus, HbA1c and TC levels, baseline NIHSS score and LA severity are independently associated with END after small subcortical infarction.
Jeong, (2015) [44]	Single Small Subcortical Infarction, Longitudinal, 587	65 ± 12, 347M/240F BMI 25.0 ± 3.7 in END and 24.0 ± 3.3 in no END group	Hypertension (n = 412), Diabetes mellitus (n = 193), Hyperlipidemia (n = 147), Smoking (n = 248), Relevant artery stenosis (0% to 50% narrowing) (n = 159), branch atheromatous lesions (n = 220)	n/a	113	3 weeks	Fazekas score	Within 24 h of admission	NIHSS on admission and at least once a day during hospitalization, mRS at 3 months	END is associated with large vessel pathologies, but not previous lacunar infarction, CMBs or WMHs.
Nannoni, (2015) [45]	Subcortical stroke, Longitudinal, 94	67.5 ± 11.7, 68M/26F	Hypertension (n = 76), Diabetes mellitus (n = 22), Hypercholesterolaemia (n = 32), Coronary Artery Disease (n = 7), Smoking (n = 66)	n/a	22	72 h	Van Swieten Scale and Fazekas score	Baseline CT scan on admission. Progressors had CT or MRI performed within 24 h from the onset of worsening. Non-progressors had CT or MRI performed before discharge	NIHSS on admission, every 6–8 h during hospitalization, and at discharge.	Combined vascular risk factors, infarct size and severe LA are independently associated with END
Nam, (2016) [46]	Isolated pontine infarction, Longitudinal, 82	71, 51M/31F	Hypertension (n = 59), Diabetes mellitus (n = 39), Hyperlipidemia (n = 39), Smoking (n = 37)	Mono antiplatelet drug (n = 48), Dual antiplatelet drug (n = 31), Anticoagulant (n = 0), Both (n = 2), None (n = 1)	13	72 h	Fazekas score	Within 24 h from admission	NIHSS on admission and after 72 h from admission	Severe periventricular and subcortical WMHa are associated with END in patients with isolated pontine infarction.
Chen, (2017) [47]	AIS (with NIHSS < 12), Longitudinal, 687	59.6 ± 12.7, 496M/191F	Hypertension (n = 476), Diabetes mellitus (n = 162), Coronary Artery Disease (n = 34), Smoking (n = 243)	Mono-antiplatelet treatment (n = 391), Dual-antiplatelet treatment (n = 245), Anticoagulation treatment (n = 54), Statins (n = 48)	111	72 h after admission	Fazekas score	During the initial 24 h after admission	NIHSS	END was not associated with SVD markers
Nam, (2017) [48]	AIS, Longitudinal, 325	69, 202M/123F	Hypertension (n = 232), Diabetes mellitus (n = 99), Hyperlipidemia (n = 100), Atrial Fibrillation (n = 89), Smoking (n = 104)	Mono-antiplatelet (n = 155) Dual-antiplatelet (n = 138) Anticoagulation (n = 10) Both 14 None 8		4 days	Fazekas score	Within 24 h of admission	NIHSS on admission, at 72 h and 7 days, mRS at 3 months	END is associated with severe LA, distal hyperintense vessel sign, advanced age, history of atrial fibrillation and NIHSS on admission.
Μarek, (2018) [49]	AIS, Longitudinal, 77	50–93, 44M/33F	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	van Swieten scale	Upon admission	NIHSS on admission	Extent of LA is not correlated with NIHSS scale upon admission.
Etherton, (2019) [50]	AIS, Longitudinal, 42	70.2 ± 9.2, 24M/18F	Atrial fibrillation (n = 16), Myocardial infarction (n = 7), Diabetes mellitus (n = 9), Hyperlipidemia (n = 23), Hypertension (n = 29), Smoking (n = 26)	n/a	7	5 days	WML volumetry	Within 12 h and at day 3–5 post stroke	NIHSS on admission and at day 3–5 post stroke	Periventricular WMHs and preserved normal appearing white-matter microstructural integrity are associated with early neurological improvement.
Nam, (2021) [51]	AIS (cryptogenic stroke patients with active cancer), Longitudinal, 179	67 ± 10, 108M/71F	Hypertension (n = 77), Diabetes mellitus (n = 55), Dyslipidemia (n = 76), Smoking (n = 61)	n/a	n/a	3 months	Fazekas score	n/a	NIHSS at baseline and 72 h, mRS at 3 months	No association between END and CMBs or WMHs was observed. In contrast, SBI were associated with END
Early Stroke Outcome (<1 month)
Kang, (2013) [52]	AIS, Longitudinal, 408	64.7 ± 10.0, 238M/170F, 8.5 ± 5.0	Hypertension (n = 204), Diabetes mellitus (n = 112), Heart disease (n = 33), Hypercholesterolemia (n = 229)	n/a	34	2 weeks, 1 year for 284 patients	Fazekas score	At admission	NIHSS, mRS, BI on admission, at 2 weeks and at 1 year, MMSE at the 2 weeks and 1 year.	Severe periventricular WMHs, but not deep WMHs, are associated with worse outcome both at 2 weeks and at 1 year after stroke.
Huang, (2014) [53]	Acute cerebral infarction, Longitudinal, 279	73.11 ± 10.32, 191M/88F	n/a	n/a	n/a	14 days or until discharge	Fazekas score	Before or within 5 days after admission	NIHSS on days 1, 7 and 14 after admission and on the day of discharge, mRS on the day of discharge	WMH grade ≥2 is associated with high probability of self-care incapability upon discharge
Toscano, (2015) [54]	Any type (205 with ischemic stroke), Longitudinal, 254	73 ± 11.6, 138M/116F, years of education: 0–4 (n = 23), 5–7 (n = 115), 8–12 (n = 72), 13+ (n = 44)	Coronary Artery Disease (n = 217)	n/a		14 days	Fazekas score	Within 7 days from stroke onset	NIHSS on admission, Water swallow test upon admission and after 14 days	Age, NIHSS ≥ 12 upon admission and LA degree are associated with early post-stroke dysphagia
Zhang, (2017) [55]	AIS (with NIHSS score ≤ 5), Longitudinal, 217, 147 females	70M/147F, None-to-mild leukoaraiosis group vs. moderate leukoaraiosis group: illiterate (30% vs. 31%), primary school (26.7% vs. 29%), middle school or higher (43.3% vs. 40%)	Hypertension (n = 156), Diabetes mellitus (n = 111), Dyslipidemia (n = 53), Coronary artery disease (n = 13), Smoking (n = 90)	Antiplatelets (n = 210), Oral anticoagulants (n = 4), Statins (n = 217), Antiglycemics (n = 53), Antihypertensives (n = 95)	n/a	30 days	Fazekas score	Within 48 h after admission	NIHSS and MMSE at baseline and at 30 days.	Severe LA is associated with poor early functional recovery.
Fandler, (2017) [56]	Recent small subcortical infarct, Longitudinal, 332	67.7 ± 11.9, 214M/118F	Hypertension (n = 282), Diabetes mellitus (n = 93), Hyperlipidemia (n = 197), Smoking (n = 97)	n/a	73	1 day (range, 0–9)	Fazekas score	n/a	NIHSS on admission Gugging Swallowing Screen	NIHSS on admission, pontine infarcts and severe baseline WMHs are independent risk factors of early post-stroke dysphagia
Ko, (2017) [57]	Acute Unilateral Corona Radiata Infarction with or without contralateral CBT Involvement, Longitudinal, 81, 29 females	64.6 ± 11.5, 344M/115F	Hypertension (n = 43), Diabetes mellitus (n = 19)	n/a	n/a	Until discharge	Fazekas score	n/a	NIHSS at baseline, bedside swallowing test, videofluoroscopic swallowing study	Contralateral CBT involvement predicts post-stroke dysphagia.
Shang, (2020) [58]	AIS (patients with MCA stroke), Longitudinal, 459	n/a	Hypertension (n = 245), Diabetes mellitus (n = 109), Hypercholesteremia (n = 121), Smoking (n = 149)	Antiplatelet drugs (n = 176) Anticoagulants (n = 8) Statins (n = 153)	81	At discharge	Fazekas score	Two groups: ≤14-day and ≥15-day	NIHSS on admission, mRS at discharge	LA combined with fluid attenuated inversion recovery vascular hyperintensity are associated with unfavorable early clinical outcomes
Li, (2020) [59]	Any type (98 with ischemic stroke), Longitudinal, 130	57.87 ± 14.22, 83M/47F, no education (n = 5), some education (n = 124), never married (n = 7), currently married (n = 111), formerly married (n = 12), high income (n = 30), low income (n = 100)	Hypertension (n = 120), Diabetes mellitus (n = 45), Dyslipidemia (n = 109), Alcohol (n = 54)	n/a	n/a	12 months (only the one-month endpoint was used for analysis)	WML volumetry	Within 10 days of symptom onset	mRS, NIHSS, MBI	WMH volume is positively correlated to poor 1-month post-stroke outcome
Kim, (2014) [60]	AIS, Longitudinal, 225	67.6 ± 13.7, 123M/102F	Hypertension (n = 141), Diabetes mellitus (n = 64), Dyslipidemia (n = 87), Ischemic Heart Disease (n = 19), Atrial Fibrillation (n = 53)	Anticoagulants (n = 4), Antiplatelets(n = 48), Statins (n = 12)	44	6 months	Semiquantitative Scheltens visual rating system [61]	Within 24 h of admission	NIHSS on admission, mRS at discharge and at 6 months	Poor functional outcome upon discharge and at 6 months is positively associated with advanced age, presence of CMB and WMH scores.
Short-term stroke outcome (1–3 months)
Onteddu, (2015) [62]	AIS (with NIHSS ≤ 5), Longitudinal, 185	69, 119M/66F	Hypertension (n = 138), Dyslipidemia (n = 110), Diabetes (n = 63), Atrial fibrillation (n = 36), Coronary artery disease (n = 51), Congestive heart failure (n = 21), Peripheral vascular disease (n = 13), Smoking (n = 56)	Antiplatelets (n = 100), Oral anticoagulants (n = 15), Statins (n = 85), Antiglycemics (n = 46), Antihypertensives (n = 125)	37	90 days	van Swieten scale, Fazekas score	n/a	NIHSS at baseline, discharge, and 90 days, mRS at 90 days	Compared to chronological age, LA is a more sensitive predictor of short term neurological deficit after minor ischemic stroke.
Helenius, (2017) [63]	Acute small subcortical infarct, Longitudinal, 80	67, 43M/37F	Hypertension (n = 57), Dyslipidemia (n = 49), Diabetes mellitus (n = 27), Atrial fibrillation (n = 5), Coronary Artery Disease (n = 18), Peripheral artery disease (n = 8), Smoking (n = 19), Alcohol (n = 9)	Statins (n = 42), Antihypertensives (n = 52), Antiglycemics (n = 23), Antiplatelets (n = 48), Oral anticoagulant (n = 4)	20	90 days	Fazekas score	Between 24 and 168 h since symptom onset	NIHSS at presentation, mRS at presentation and at 90 days.	Greater WMH burden was independently associated with SSI infarct volume and a worse 90-day functional outcome.
Ryu, (2017) [64]	AIS (large artery atherosclerosis, small vessel occlusion, or cardioembolism) Longitudinal, 5035	66.3 ± 12.8, 3000M/2032F, BMI per WMH quantiles: Q1 = 23.9, Q2 = 23.9, Q3 = 23.8,Q4 = 23.4, Q5 = 23.3	Hypertension (n = 3250), Hyperlipidemia (n = 1587), Diabetes mellitus (n = 1363), Smoking (n = 1951), Coronary Artery Disease (n = 425), Atrial Fibrillation (n = 989)	Statins (n = 558), Antiplatelets (n = 1049)	n/a	3 months	WML volumetry	n/a	NIHSS on admission, mRS pre-stroke, at discharge and at 3 months.	Higher WMH volumes are associated with poor short-term prognosis mainly in large artery atherosclerosis stroke
Giralt- Steinhauer, (2018) [65]	TIA or AIS, Longitudinal, 313	200M/113F	Hypertension (n = 232), Hyperlipidemia (n = 180), Diabetes mellitus (n = 124), Coronary Artery Disease (n = 37), Atrial Fibrillation (n = 76), Peripheral artery disease (n = 36)	n/a	27	3 months	WML volumetry	Median 7 days	NIHSS on admission, mRS at 3 months	Brainstem WMHs are independent predictors of poor outcome after AIS/TIA.
Jeong, (2018) [66]	AIS (with cryptogenic stroke), Longitudinal, 235	63 (IQR, 54–69), 159M/76F	Hypertension (n = 178), Hyperlipidemia (n = 13), Diabetes mellitus (n = 72), Smoking (n = 118) Cerebral artery atherosclerosis: intracranial (n = 61), extracranial (n = 23), combined (n = 46)	n/a	n/a	A median of 7.7 years (6.7–9.0)	Fazekas score	Within 3 days after admission	NIHSS at baseline, mRS at 3 months	Severe WMHs are associated with poor short-term functional outcome in young and old CS patients. Younger CS patients with severe WMHs had higher death rates
Zerna, (2018) [67]	High risk TIA or AIS (NHISS ≤ 3), Longitudinal, 412	69, 248M/164F	Hypertension (n = 225), Congestive heart failure (n = 3), Atrial fibrillation (n = 28), Diabetes mellitus (n = 57), Smoking (n = 63), Intracranial occlusion/stenosis (n = 64)	Aspirin (n = 134), Plavix (n = 24), Aggrenox (n = 4), Warfarin (n = 17)	n/a	90 days	Fazekas score, WML volumetry	n/a	NIHSS on admission, mRS at 90 days	WML burden was associated with short-term outcomes in TIA and minor stroke patients who had good prestroke function in the presence of intracranial stenosis/occlusion.
Schirmer, (2018) [68]	AIS, Longitudinal, 453	66.6 ± 14.7, 165M/288F	Hypertension (n = 311)	n/a	n/a	3–6 months	WML volumetry	Within 48 h of admission	mRS at 90 days	Significant direct association between WMH volume and early stroke outcome was not established.
Appleton, (2020) [69]	Any type (3342 with ischemic stroke), Longitudinal, 4011	70.3, 2297M/1714F	Hypertension (n = 2607), Diabetes mellitus (n = 699), Atrial Fibrillation (n = 762), Ischemic Heart Disease (n = 669), Peripheral Arterial Disease (n = 117), Smoking (n = 945), Hyperlipidemia (n = 1098), Alcohol (n = 294)	n/a	1138	90 days	LA was assessed separately in anterior and posterior brain regions defined as 0 = no lucency, 1 = lucency restricted to region adjoining ventricles, or 2 = lucency covering entire region from lateral ventricle to cortex	At baseline, usually before randomization	NIHSS at baseline, mRS at day 90	Severe LA, severe cerebral atrophy and old lacunar infarcts/lacunes score are associated with unfavorable functional outcome at day 90 in lacunar and non-lacunar stroke, with a stronger effect in lacunar stroke.
Griessenauer, (2020) [70]	AIS, Large vessel occlusion (LVO) and non-LVO Longitudinal, 1285	69 (58–78), 497M/788F BMI ≥ 30 (n = 755)	Hypertension (n = 1264), Diabetes mellitus (n = 621), Dyslipidemia (n = 1148), Smoking (n = 954), Alcohol (n = 552), Peripheral vascular disease (n = 161), Coronary artery disease (n = 477), Atrial fibrillation (n = 355), Carotid stenosis (n = 607), Intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (n = 483), Anemia (n = 243), Sleep apnea (n = 170), COPD (n = 188)	n/a	503	90 days	WML volumetry	At the time of the stroke admission	NIHSS at presentation, mRS at 90 days	Increasing WMH volume from 0 to 4 mL is correlated with an unfavorable outcome among LVO and non-LVO patients
Ryu, (2020) [71]	AIS, Longitudinal, 477	66 ± 14, 294M/183F	Hypertension (n = 359), Diabetes mellitus (n = 182), Hyperlipidemia (n = 143), Smoking (n = 221), Coronary Artery Disease (n = 75)	n/a	99	3 months	WML volumetry	Within 7 days of stroke onset	NIHSS on admission, mRS at 3 months	WMHs, lacunes and CMBs are independently associated with mRS scores at 3 months.
Coutureau, (2021) [72]	AIS, Longitudinal, Dataset 1: 348, Dataset 2: 137	Dataset 1: 67.5 ± 14.1, 221M/127F, Baccalaureate or higher educational status (n = 106) Dataset 2: 64.8 ± 12.6, 82M/55F, Baccalaureate or higher educational status (n = 51)	n/a	n/a	n/a	3 months for dataset 1 and 6 months for dataset 2	Fazekas score	24 and 72 h after stroke onset	NIHSS at baseline, mRS at 3 months for dataset 1 and mRS at 6 months for dataset 2	Total SVD score was associated with poor early recovery post-stroke, but did not provide significant improvement of prediction models compared to age and baseline NIHSS
Farag, (2021) [73]	AIS, Longitudinal, 460	282M/178F	Hypertension (n = 319), Diabetes mellitus (n = 243), Smoking (n = 186), Ischemic Heart Disease (n = 109)	Antiplatelets (n = 243), Statins (n = 54)	174	3 months	Group A (absent leukoaraiosis) and group B (present leukoaraiosis).	A few days post-admission	NIHSS at baseline, mRS at discharge and at 3 months	LA degree is not associated with stroke severity on admission, but with worse clinical outcome at 3 months follow up.
Bu, (2021) [61]	AIS, Longitudinal, 259	69 ± 12, 139M/120F	n/a	n/a	42	90 days	Fazekas score	Within 9 h of symptom onset	ΝIHSS at baseline, mRS at 90 days	WMHs were not associated with short-term stroke outcome.
Sakuta, (2021) [74]	Non-cardiogenic AIS (NIHSS score < 4), Longitudinal, 240	66 (57–76), 187M/53F BMI (median): 23.7	Hypertension (n = 165), Diabetes mellitus (n = 74), Dyslipidemia (n = 126), Ischemic Heart Disease (n = 20), Peripheral arterial disease (n = 6), Chronic kidney disease (n = 33), Malignant neoplasms (n = 17)	Single antiplatelet agent (n = 150), Dual antiplatelet agent (n = 90)	43	90 days	Fazekas score	On admission	NIHSS on admission, mRS at day 90	deep WMH is not an independent risk factor for poor short-term functional outcome
Chen, (2021) [75]	AIS (with NIHSS ≤ 3), Longitudinal, 388	66.54 ± 11.15, 111M/277F	Hypertension (n = 324), Coronary artery disease (n = 51), Atrial fibrillation (n = 52), Diabetes mellitus (n = 142), Hyperlipidemia (n = 162), Stroke (n = 61), Smoking 73, Alcohol (n = 56), Carotid atherosclerosis (n = 259)	n/a	n/a	90 days	Fazekas score	Within 7 days of stroke onset	NIHSS on admission, mRS at 90 days	Among SVD neuroimaging markers, only Fazekas score was associated with poor short-term outcome in minor ischemic stroke.
Song, (2021) [76]	TIA, TSI or AIS with symptomatic carotid artery stenosis (CAS), Longitudinal, 158	134M/24F, BMI: TIA/TSI = 23.6 3.9, Mild = 23.8 ± 4.0, Moderate to severe = 23.4 ± 2.7	Hypertension (n = 123), Diabetes mellitus (n = 59), Hyperlipidemia (n = 78), Ischemic Heart Disease (n = 37), Peripheral arterial disease (n = 13), Smoking (n = 53), Congestive Heart Failure (n = 22), Atrial Fibrillation (n = 10)	Antiplatelets (n = 93), Anticoagulants (n = 10), Statins (n = 82)	45	90 days	WML volumetry and Fazekas scale	Within 48 h from the symptom onset	NIHSS at baseline, mRS at day 90	Larger WMH volume, but not brain-blood flow dynamics or carotid plaque characteristics, is associated with moderate to severe stroke and poor short-term prognosis in symptomatic CAS patients.
Long-term stroke outcome (3–12 months)
Reid, (2012) [77]	Any type (468 with ischemic stroke), Longitudinal, 538	74 (61–80), 286M/252F	Atrial Fibrillation (n = 78)	n/a	148	6 months	Score previously described by Reid et al. [74]	n/a	mRS	LA score was the only independent radiological predictor of both excellent and devastating outcomes.
Liu, (2017) [78]	AIS; patients with branch atheromatous disease (BAD), Longitudinal, 176	121M/55F	Hypertension (n = 132), Diabetes mellitus (n = 63), Dyslipidemia (n = 101), Ischemic Heart Disease (n = 14), Smoking (n = 78), Alcohol (n = 67)	n/a	n/a	6 months	Fazekas score	Within 5 days of admission	NIHSS, mRS at 6 months	WMHs were associated with 6-month functional outcome only in the paramedian pontine and not the lenticulostriate atherosclerotic cerebral infarction group
Wardlaw, (2017) [79]	AIS (with NIHSS ≤ 7), Longitudinal, 190	65.3 ± 11.3, 112M/78F	Hypertension (n = 142), Smoking (n = 73), Hyperlipidemia (n = 116), Diabetes mellitus (n = 21)	n/a	n/a	1 year	Fazekas score	At presentation and at 1 year after stroke	NIHSS on admission, mRS at 1 year	WMH may regress after minor stroke. Blood pressure reduction might accentuate WMH growth
Auriat, (2019) [39]	Any type, Cross-sectional, 30	65.68 ± 8.16, 21M/7F, 14.47 ± 3.23	n/a	n/a		Last diagnosed stroke at least 6 months before participation in the study	WML volumetry	n/a	The upper-extremity motor portion of the Fugl-Meyer assessment (FM) to index impairment of the hemiparetic arm and Wolf Motor Function Test to assess motor function of the upper extremity.	deep WMH volume correlated with motor function and impairment. Periventricular WMH volume is associated with non-memory impairment
Hicks, (2018) [80]	Any type (with upper extremity hemiparesis), Longitudinal, 28	63.2 ± 11.5	n/a	n/a	n/a	post-stroke interval more than 10 months	WML volumetry	Pre-treatment	Hemiparetic arm function was measured using the Motor Activity Log and Wolf Motor Function Test	WMH predicts 10-month stroke-related upper extremity motor impairment.
Wright, (2018) [40]	AIS, Cross-sectional, 42	56.1 ± 15.0	n/a	n/a	n/a	>3 months	CHS rating scale	1 to 4 weeks from stroke onset	WAB object naming score and WAB word fluency score	>3-monhts post-stroke naming outcome is associated with LA severity
Lee, (2020) [81]	AIS, Longitudinal, 137	68.7 ± 14.0 69M/68F	Diabetes mellitus (26.2%), Hypertension (71.4%), Smoking (9.5%).	n/a	n/a	6 months	Fazekas score	n/a	NIHSS on admission, Clinical Dysphagia Scale at baseline	WMH burden is associated with 6-month post-stroke dysphagia
Chronic stroke outcome (>1 year)
Baik, (2017) [82]	AIS (with large artery atherosclerosis), Longitudinal, 538	65.7 ± 10.3, 305M/233F	Hypertension (n = 416), Hyperlipidemia (n = 68), Diabetes mellitus (n = 221), Smoking (n = 268)	Antithrombotics (n = 40), Statins (n = 24)	n/a	Median of 7.7 years (interquartile range, 5.6–9.7)	Fazekas score	n/a	NIHSS at baseline, mRS at 3 months	WMH severity is associated with increased all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.
Jeon, (2017) [83]	AIS, Longitudinal, 1138	73.3 ± 9.9, 156M/982F	Hypertension (n = 192), Diabetes mellitus (n = 90), Coronary heart disease (n = 3), Dyslipidemia (n = 79), Smoking (n = 49)	n/a	63	3 years	Fazekas score	At the time of admission	3-year mortality	SVD, especially, WMH, and renal dysfunction are associated with increased 3-year mortality post-stroke
Hert, (2020) [84]	Atrial fibrillation stroke (treated with anticoagulation), Longitudinal, 320	78.2 ± 9.2, 170M/150F	Hypertension (n = 241), Diabetes mellitus (n = 62), Hypercholesterolemia (n = 122), Smoking (n = 81), Alcohol (n = 78)	Vitamin K Antagonists (n = 61), Vitamin K Antagonists/Antiplatelet (n = 15), Direct Oral Anticoagulants (n = 216), Direct Oral Anticoagulants/antiplatelet (n = 18), Antiplatelet (n = 5)	n/a	Median follow-up time of 754 days	ARWMC score	n/a	NIHSS at baseline, mRS at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months	WMHs and CMBs were related to increased risk of ischemic stroke, intracranial hemorrhage, death and disability 2 years post stroke.
Rehabilitation outcome
Senda, (2016) [85]	AIS, Longitudinal, 520	72.8 ± 8.4, 317M/203F	Hypertension (n = 325), Diabetes mellitus (n = 147), Hyperlipidemia (n = 183), Smoking (n = 204), History of Heart Disease (n = 105)	n/a	131	From admission to discharge from a convalescent rehabilitation hospital	Fazekas score	n/a	FIM scores on admission and at discharge	Periventricular WMHs are associated with poor FIM motor scores, whereas deep WMHs are related to poor FIM cognitive scores at discharge from rehabilitation.
Khan, (2019) [86]	AIS, Longitudinal, 109	66.6 ± 12.4, 65M/44F	Hypertension (n = 84), Diabetes mellitus (n = 43), Atrial Fibrillation (n = 22)	n/a	n/a	From admission to discharge from acute inpatient rehabilitation	Fazekas score	n/a	NIHSS at baseline, Functional Independence Measure (FIM) motor and cognitive score	LA severity is an independent predictor of cognitive, but not motor FIM score, after rehabilitation for AIS.
Dai, (2022) [87]	Any type (172 with ischemic stroke), Longitudinal, 210	67.3, 142M/68F, BMI: no/mild WHMs = 24.5, moderate/severe WMHs = 26.2	Hypertension (n = 128), Diabetes mellitus (n = 43), Dyslipidemia (n = 98), Smoking (n = 121), Alcohol (n = 49)	n/a	n/a	Until discharge from the neurorehabilitation ward	Fazekas score	NM	NIHSS on admission, mRS, Postural Assessment Scale for Stroke and modified Fugl–Meyer Gait Assessment on day 30 ± 3 post-stroke and at discharge from the rehabilitation ward	LA severity is independently associated with poor gait and balance recovery and increased risk of falls post-AIS.