Severe carotid artery stenosis evaluated by ultrasound is associated with post stroke vascular cognitive impairment

Abstract

Background: Acute ischemic stroke has been recognized as one key cause of vascular cognitive impairment (VCI). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between carotid artery stenosis and post VCI in acute ischemic stroke patients. Methods: In this study, B-mode ultrasound was applied to measure the degree of carotid artery stenosis. After 1 year, the stroke patients’ cognitive function was assessed by the mini-mental state examination (MMSE) score. The relationship between the VCI and degree of carotid artery stenosis was evaluated by multivariate regression analysis. Results: VCI was observed in 136 (37.2%) of the 365 participants. High degree of carotid artery stenosis was significantly correlated with VCI (p