Association between Silent Brain Infarction and High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein: Single Hospital Based Case-Control Study
Dong-Gun Kim, MD1, Seung-Hun Oh, MD2, Jin-Kwon Kim, MD2 and Ok-Joon Kim, MD, PhD2
1Department of Neurology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea, 2Department of Neurology, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea
ABSTRACT
Background: Silent brain infarction (SBI) is often found on magnetic resonance images (MRI) of otherwise healthy individuals with cardiovascular risk factors. Several studies reported SBI as independent risk factor of cerebral infarction. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) was related to cerebral atherosclerosis and prognosis of cerebral infarction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between hs-CRP and SBI. Methods:Two hundred twenty-seven patients without history of cerebrovascular accidents were enrolled for this study. Forty-five patients have SBI. All patients underwent brain MRI and risk factor evaluation including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, lipid profile, homocysteine, vitamin B12, folate, and hs-CRP. Results: Mean hs-CRP level (P=0.04) and homocysteine level (P=0.02) was higher in SBI group than in those without. Only hs-CRP level was meaningful after adjusting traditional cardiovascular risk factor (odds ratio 2.49, P=0.03). Conclusions: Higher level of hs-CRP seems to be associated with SBI, suggesting role of the inflammatory process in the progression of SBI.
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