Risk Factors for Asymptomatic and Symptomatic Intracranial Atherosclerosis Determined by Magnetic Resonance Vessel Wall Imaging in Chinese Population: A Case–Control Study

Figures & data

Figure 1 The derivation of the study groups.

Abbreviations: ICAD, intracranial atherosclerosis disease; ICAS, intracranial artery stenosis; TIA, transient ischemic attacks.

Table 1 The Clinical Characteristics of the Study Subjects

	Mean ± SD or n (%)			p
	Symptomatic ICAD (n=104)	Asymptomatic ICAD (n=51)	Controls (n=418)
Age, years	57.1 ± 11.1	70.1 ± 8.4	58.0 ± 13.3	<0.001
Gender, female	37 (35.6)	22 (50.0)	239 (61.0)	<0.001
Body mass index, kg/m^2	25.3 ± 3.4	24.6 ± 3.2	24.3 ± 3.3	0.018
Overweight	72 (69.2)	31 (60.8)	215 (51.4)	0.003
Smoking	28 (26.9)	4 (7.8)	21 (5.0)	<0.001
Drinking	16 (15.4)	11 (21.6)	37 (8.9)	0.007
Hypertension	90 (86.5)	38 (74.5)	168 (40.2)	<0.001
HDL, mmol/L	1.11 ± 0.24	1.53 ± 0.44	1.49 ± 0.37	<0.001
LDL, mmol/L	2.82 ± 1.16	2.89 ± 0.69	2.96 ± 0.87	0.353
TC, mmol/L	4.40 ± 1.49	4.78 ± 0.74	4.85 ± 0.92	<0.001
TG, mmol/L	1.89 ± 1.24	1.63 ± 0.7	1.69 ± 1.65	0.454
Statin use	10 (9.6)	19 (37.3)	84 (20.1)	<0.001
Diabetes	46 (44.2)	13 (25.5)	52 (12.4)	<0.001
History of CHD	7 (6.7)	9 (17.6)	21 (5.0)	0.002

Abbreviations: ICAD, intracranial atherosclerosis disease; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; TC, total cholesterol; TG, triglycerides; CHD, coronary heart disease.

Table 2 Comparison of Vascular Risk Factor Prevalence Between 3 Groups by Univariate Logistic Regression Analysis

	Asymptomatic ICAD vs Controls		Symptomatic ICAD vs Controls		Symptomatic vs Asymptomatic ICAD
	OR (95% CI)	p	OR (95% CI)	p	OR (95% CI)	p
Age	1.08 (1.05–1.11)	<0.001	0.99 (0.98–1.01)	0.807	0.87 (0.83–0.92)	<0.001
Gender, female	0.64 (0.34–1.19)	0.162	0.35 (0.22–0.55)	<0.001	0.55 (0.27–1.12)	0.103
Overweight	1.49 (0.78–2.82)	0.217	2.11 (1.33–3.35)	0.001	1.41 (0.67–2.95)	0.353
Smoking	1.29 (0.36–4.52)	0.687	6.50 (3.51–12.06)	<0.001	5.03 (1.44–17.57)	0.011
Drinking	2.50 (1.07–5.83)	0.033	2.04 (1.07–3.89)	0.029	0.81 (0.32–2.08)	0.673
Hypertension	4.63 (2.27–9.44)	<0.001	9.93 (5.46–18.07)	<0.001	2.14 (0.88–5.19)	0.091
HDL, mmol/L
Q1	1.00		1.00		1.00
Q2	0.95 (0.33–2.67)	0.924	0.33 (0.19–0.58)	<0.001	0.35 (0.12–1.05)	0.062
Q3	1.16 (0.44–3.06)	0.754	0.13 (0.06–0.26)	<0.001	0.11 (0.03–0.34)	<0.001
Q4	1.35 (0.52–3.49)	0.525	0.02 (0.004–0.08)	<0.001	0.01 (0.002–0.08)	<0.001
LDL, mmol/L
Q1	1.00		1.00		1.00
Q2	0.82 (0.34–1.95)	0.660	0.67 (0.37–1.19)	0.178	0.81 (0.31–2.13)	0.681
Q3	1.08 (0.48–2.45)	0.836	0.43 (0.23–0.82)	0.010	0.40 (0.15–1.03)	0.057
Q4	0.41 (0.15–1.16)	0.094	0.53 (0.29–0.97)	0.039	1.27 (0.42–3.88)	0.665
TC, mmol/L
Q1	1.00		1.00		1.00
Q2	1.06 (0.44–2.55)	0.886	0.25 (0.13–0.47)	<0.001	0.23 (0.08–0.64)	0.004
Q3	0.99 (0.41–2.38)	0.993	0.29 (0.16–0.54)	<0.001	0.29 (0.11–0.79)	0.015
Q4	0.63 (0.24–1.68)	0.363	0.34 (0.18–0.61)	<0.001	0.53 (0.18–1.54)	0.248
TG, mmol/L
Q1	1.00		1.00		1.00
Q2	1.48 (0.62–3.55)	0.368	1.00 (0.52–1.91)	0.993	0.67 (0.24–1.85)	0.442
Q3	1.53 (0.64–3.66)	0.332	1.37 (0.74–2.54)	0.301	0.89 (0.33–2.41)	0.830
Q4	0.94 (0.35–2.49)	0.911	1.52 (0.83–2.78)	0.166	1.61 (0.55–4.71)	0.380
Diabetes	2.33 (1.10–4.91)	0.025	5.55 (3.40–9.05)	<0.001	2.37 (1.08–5.21)	0.030
History of CHD	3.34 (1.33–8.38)	0.010	1.27 (0.52–3.08)	0.590	0.38 (0.12–1.16)	0.090

Notes: The levels of lipoproteins were divided into four equal parts including the first quantile (Q1), the second quantile (Q2), the third quantile (Q3), and the fourth quantile (Q4).

Abbreviations: ICAD, intracranial atherosclerosis disease; OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; LDL, low-density lipoprotein; TC, total cholesterol; TG, triglycerides; CHD, coronary heart disease.

Table 3 Comparison of Vascular Risk Factor Prevalence Between 3 Groups by Multivariate Logistic Regression Analysis

	OR (95% CI)	p
Asymptomatic ICAD vs Controls*
Age	1.07 (1.03–1.10)	<0.001
Hypertension	3.03 (1.45–6.36)	0.003
Symptomatic ICAD vs Controls^#
Smoking	3.41 (1.57–7.42)	0.001
Hypertension	7.43 (3.81–14.49)	<0.001
HDL, mmol/L
Q1	1.00
Q2	0.38 (0.19–0.73)	0.004
Q3	0.21 (0.10–0.47)	<0.001
Q4	0.03 (0.007–0.16)	<0.001
TC, mmol/L
Q1	1.00
Q2	0.30 (0.13–0.66)	0.003
Q3	0.51 (0.23–1.13)	0.099
Q4	0.75 (0.35–1.63)	0.481
Diabetes	3.54 (1.93–6.49)	<0.001
Symptomatic vs Asymptomatic ICAD^†
Age	0.86 (0.81–0.92)	<0.001
HDL, mmol/L
Q1	1.00
Q2	0.43 (0.12–1.45)	0.175
Q3	0.11 (0.03–0.40)	<0.001
Q4	0.01 (0.001–0.09)	<0.001

Notes: *Model 1: covariate: age and hypertension; ^#Model 2: covariate: smoking, hypertension, HDL and diabetes; ^†Model 3: covariate: age and HDL; The levels of lipoproteins were divided into four equal parts including the first quantile (Q1), the second quantile (Q2), the third quantile (Q3), and the fourth quantile (Q4).

Abbreviations: OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval; ICAD, intracranial atherosclerosis disease; HDL, high-density lipoprotein; TC, total cholesterol.