Atrophy of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is associated with poor performance in verbal fluency in elderly poststroke women

This study aimed to investigate the association between atrophy in the prefrontal cortex with executive function and verbal fluency in elderly male and female patients poststroke. Thirty elderly female patients with non-aphasic ischemic stroke aged -〉 60 years and 30 age-matched non-aphasic male patients with ischemic stroke were recruited. Automatic magnetic resonance imaging segmentation was used to assess the volume of the whole prefrontal cortex, along with its subdivisions： anterior cingulate cortex, orbitofrontal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. The Semantic Verbal Fluency Test was administered at 3 and 15 months poststroke. At 3 months poststroke, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex volume was significantly correlated with Verbal Fluency Test score in female patients only （partial coefficient = 0.453, P = 0.045）, after controlling for age, education, diabetes, neurological deficit, white matter lesions volume, as well as the location and volume of infarcts. At 15 months poststroke, there remained a significant association between the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex volume and Verbal Fluency Test （partial coefficient = 0.661, P = 0.001） and between the left prefrontal cortex volume and Verbal Fluency Test （partial coefficient = 0.573, P = 0.004） in female patients after the same adjustments. These findings indicate that atrophy of the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex contributes to the impairment of verbal fluency in elderly female patients with stroke. Sex differences may be present in the neuropsychological mechanisms of verbal fluency impairment in patients with stroke.

Risk stratification in symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic disease with conventional vascular risk factors and cerebral haemodynamics

Background and purpose Symptomatic intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis(sICAS)is associated with a considerable risk of recurrent stroke despite contemporarily optimal medical treatment.Severity of luminal stenosis in sICAS and its haemodynamic significance quantified with computational fluid dynamics(CFD)models were associated with the risk of stroke recurrence.We aimed to develop and compare stroke risk prediction nomograms in sICAS,based on vascular risk factors and these metrics.Methods Patients with 50%-99%sICAS confirmed in CT angiography(CTA)were enrolled.Conventional vascular risk factors were collected.Severity of luminal stenosis in sICAS was dichotomised as moderate(50%-69%)and severe(70%-99%).Translesional pressure ratio(PR)and wall shear stress ratio(WSSR)were quantified via CTA-based CFD modelling;the haemodynamic status of sICAS was classified as normal(normal PR&WSSR),intermediate(otherwise)and abnormal(abnormal PR&WSSR).All patients received guideline-recommended medical treatment.We developed and compared performance of nomograms composed of these variables and independent predictors identified in multivariate logistic regression,in predicting the primary outcome,recurrent ischaemic stroke in the same territory(SIT)within 1 year.Results Among 245 sICAS patients,20(8.2%)had SIT.The D2H2A nomogram,incorporating diabetes,dyslipidaemia,haemodynamic status of sICAS,hypertension and age≥50 years,showed good calibration(P for Hosmer-Lemeshow test=0.560)and discrimination(C-statistic 0.73,95%CI 0.60 to 0.85).It also had better performance in risk reclassification and provided larger net benefits in decision curve analysis,compared with nomograms composed of conventional vascular risk factors only,and plus the severity of luminal stenosis in sICAS.Sensitivity analysis in patients with anterior-circulation sICAS showed similar results.Conclusions The D2H2A nomogram,incorporating conventional vascular risk factors and the haemodynamic significance of sICAS as assessed in CFD models,could be a useful tool to stratify sICAS patients for the risk of recurrent stroke under contemporarily optimal medical treatment.