Cervical and intracranial atherosclerosis and silent brain infarction in Japanese patients with coronary artery disease.

PURPOSE

To investigate the prevalence of cervical and intracranial atherosclerosis and silent brain infarction in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).

METHODS

Cervical and intracranial atherosclerotic lesions on magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and silent brain infarctions on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were investigated in comparison with the findings of coronary angiography in 133 consecutive patients with CAD.

RESULTS

The mean severity scores of cervical and intracranial MRA lesions were significantly higher in the three-vessel CAD (0.40 and 0.53, respectively) than in the zero-vessel CAD group (0.04 and 0.11). The mean scores of the maximal size and multiplicity of MRI lesion were also significantly greater in the two-vessel (1.00 and 1.44) and three-vessel CAD (0.94 and 1.26) than in the zero-vessel CAD group (0.27 and 0.50). The incidence of MRA lesion was markedly higher in patients with brain MRI lesion than in those without (51.1 vs. 6.5%).

CONCLUSIONS

Serious coronary artery lesions were commonly accompanied by latent atherosclerotic lesions in the cervical and intracranial arteries besides silent brain infarction in patients with CAD.