Association of Coronary Stenosis With Cerebral Small Vessel Diseases in Neurologically Asymptomatic Adults.

Background The high prevalence of coronary stenosis in patients with stroke is well established. However, the association between coronary stenosis and cerebral small vessel diseases (cSVD) in asymptomatic populations remains unclear. Methods As a cross-sectional study, we evaluated South Korean adults who underwent a health checkup including brain magnetic resonance imaging and coronary computed tomography angiography between January 2010 and December 2013. The degree of coronary stenosis was classified into three groups: no stenosis (0%), non-significant stenosis (1–49%), and significant stenosis (≥50%). cSVD includes silent lacunar infarction (SLI), cerebral microbleeds (CMB), and white matter hyperintensity (WMH). We used binary logistic regression analyses for SLI and CMB, and linear regression analysis for WMH. Results A total of 1,571 participants were evaluated. The prevalence of non-significant and significant coronary stenosis was 369 (23.5%) and 95 (6.1%), respectively. The prevalence of SLI and CMB was 112 (7.1%) and 66 (4.2%), respectively. The mean WMH volume was 2.6 ± 6.1 mL. SLI was significantly associated with both non-significant (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.94; p = 0.004) and significant coronary stenosis (aOR = 2.37; p = 0.011), even showing dose-response relationship ( p for trend = 0.012). For WMH, only significant coronary stenosis was associated with WMH (β = 0.27; p = 0.013) and had a dose–response relationship ( p for trend = 0.012). Conclusions The presence and severity of coronary stenosis were significantly associated with SLI and WMH. Physicians who detects any of coronary stenosis or cSVD should pay attention to the possible coexistence of the other disease. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement Not applicable ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Not Applicable The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Seoul National University Hospital (IRB No. 1502-026-647). I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Not Applicable I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Not Applicable I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Not Applicable All data for this paper could be supplied on reasonable request.