Background: Patients with cerebral infarction have a high prevalence of asymptomatic coronary artery disease (CAD) and other vascular diseases, but there is a lack of such data for Japanese patients, so the present study investigated the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Japanese patients and determined the predictors of CAD.
Methods and results: The study group comprised 104 patients with cerebral infarction who had no history of CVD. All patients underwent coronary computed tomographic angiography, and systematic evaluation was done on the basis of the presence of other vascular diseases, CVD risk markers, and the degree of atherosclerosis. Of the total, 39 patients (37.5%) had CAD, 9 (8.7%) had carotid artery stenosis, 9 (8.7%) had peripheral artery disease of the lower limbs, and 3 (2.9%) had atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis. Multiple regression analysis showed that the presence of CAD was independently associated with metabolic syndrome (odds ratio (OR) 5.008, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.538-16.309; p<0.01) and intracranial large artery atherosclerosis (OR 4.979, 95% CI 1.633-15.183; p<0.01).
Conclusion: Japanese patients with cerebral infarction have a high prevalence of CVD, especially asymptomatic CAD. Both metabolic syndrome and intracranial large artery atherosclerosis may be potential predictors for identifying patients with cerebral infarction who are at the highest risk of asymptomatic CAD.