Lacunar stroke in patients with intermittent claudication.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the characteristics of lacunar stroke (LS) in patients with and without intermittent claudication.

METHODS

Data of 484 consecutive patients with LS were collected from a prospective hospital-based stroke registry in which 2500 patients are included.

RESULTS

Of the 142 patients with ischemic stroke and intermittent claudication, 39 (27.5%) had LS (8% of all lacunes). In the multivariate analysis, small centrum ovale topography (odds ratio 7.35), carotid stenosis >50% (odds ratio 3.17), and absence of limitation at discharge (odds ratio 2.01) were independent variables significantly associated with LS in patients with intermittent claudication.

CONCLUSIONS

Only 8% of patients with LS had intermittent claudication. The short-term prognosis is good with a spontaneous early neurological recovery at discharge in 51.3% of patients. LS patients with intermittent claudication showed a striking similarity in risk factors and clinical syndromes in comparison with the LS patients without intermittent claudication.