Background: This study investigates the effect of leukoaraiosis on patients presenting with cognitive impairment after lacunar stroke.
Methods: Fourty-six patients with cognitive impairment and newly discovered lacunar stroke detected by brain magnetic resonance imaging underwent neuropsychological testing.
Results: Patients with both lacunar infarct and leukoaraiosis performed less well on cognitive measures, compared to those with lacunar infarcts alone. Additionally, leukoaraiosis severity inversely correlated with cognitive performance.
Conclusions: In patients with lacunar stroke, presence of leukoaraiosis is associated with worse performance in multiple cognitive domains. These findings suggest lacunar infarcts plus leukoaraiosis is a common etiology for vascular dementia.