Department of Neurology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia 22908, USA.
J Am Coll Cardiol. 2012 Oct 23;60(17):1614-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2012.06.037. Epub 2012 Sep 19.
Cerebral embolic events related to carotid and cardiac disease have been known for decades. Recently, cerebral embolic events have become a focus of clinical importance as complications of vascular procedures. Further, the development of new technologies and procedures has increased the overall clinical significance. Although the relative safety of these procedures is usually defined by acute stroke risk, it is also becoming clear that far more subclinical events are occurring. Recent reports provided substantial evidence of memory loss, cognitive decline, and dementia related to these so-called silent infarcts. Literature reports of magnetic resonance imaging events lead to an estimate of as many as 600,000 patients with new brain injury each year in the United States alone. Given the magnitude of the numbers involved, the impact of accelerated cognitive loss and premature senescence in a vulnerable at-risk population could well be significant.
几十年来，人们已经了解到与颈动脉和心脏疾病相关的脑栓塞事件。最近，随着血管手术并发症的出现，脑栓塞事件已成为临床关注的焦点。此外，新技术和程序的发展增加了整体临床意义。尽管这些程序的相对安全性通常由急性中风风险定义，但也越来越清楚地表明，发生的亚临床事件更多。最近的报告提供了大量证据表明，与这些所谓的无症状梗死相关，存在记忆力丧失、认知能力下降和痴呆的风险。磁共振成像事件的文献报道导致美国每年仅新增脑损伤患者就多达 60 万人。鉴于所涉及人数之多，脆弱高危人群认知能力加速下降和过早衰老的影响很可能是巨大的。
