Clinical study of lacunar infarcts in non-hypertensive patients.

Lacunar infarcts in non-hypertensive patients have been scantly assessed. The objective of this study was to determine clinical features of lacunar infarct in patients without hypertension (n = 91) in comparison with characteristics of lacunar infarcts occurring in patients with hypertension (n = 283) collected from a prospective hospital-based stroke registry in which 2000 patients with acute stroke are included. Predictors of lacunar infarct in patients without hypertension were assessed by multiple logistic regression analysis. The group of non-hypertensive patients with lacunar infarction showed a significantly higher frequency of male gender, age 85 years or older, history of atrial fibrillation, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes mellitus, and a significantly lower frequency of female gender and absence of limitation at hospital discharge than hypertensive patients with lacunar infarct. Differences between hypertensive and non-hypertensive patients in relation to frequency of the different lacunar syndromes were not observed. After multivariate analysis, age 85 years or older (odds ratio 3.13), diabetes (odds ratio 2.57), and male gender (odds ratio 1.99) seemed to be independent factors associated with lacunar infarct in patients without hypertension. Lacunar infarct in non-hypertensive patients showed some differential clinical features compared to the remaining lacunar infarctions because it occurred more frequently in male patients aged 85 years or older. In this group, diabetes was the most important modifiable risk factor. These results suggest an earlier effect of arteriopathy caused by hypertension favoring lacunar brain ischemia, whereas in non-hypertensive patients, arteriopathy responsible for small vessel disease would take a more prolonged time in causing lacunar infarction.