Silent brain infarcts, peripheral vascular disease and the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with hypertension.

Background And Aims: We aimed to study the relationship between cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) lesions, as markers of subclinical target organ damage (TOD) in the brain, and incident cardiovascular events (CVE).

Methods: Data from the ISSYS (Investigating Silent Strokes in hYpertensives Study), which is a longitudinal and observational study conducted in patients with hypertension aged 50-70 years, and stroke-free at the inclusion. At the baseline visit, participants underwent a clinical interview, a brain MRI, urine and blood sampling collection and vascular testing studies.

GRECOS Project (Genotyping Recurrence Risk of Stroke): The Use of Genetics to Predict the Vascular Recurrence After Stroke.

Background And Purpose: Vascular recurrence occurs in 11% of patients during the first year after ischemic stroke (IS) or transient ischemic attack. Clinical scores do not predict the whole vascular recurrence risk; therefore, we aimed to find genetic variants associated with recurrence that might improve the clinical predictive models in IS.

Methods: We analyzed 256 polymorphisms from 115 candidate genes in 3 patient cohorts comprising 4482 IS or transient ischemic attack patients.

Dementia Rating Scale-2 normative data for middle-and older-aged Castilian speaking Spaniards.

Objectives: The Dementia Rating Scale-2 (DRS-2) is frequently used as a dementia screening tool in clinical and research settings in Spain. The present study describes DRS-2 Total and subscale scores in community-dwelling Spaniards, aged 50-71, and provides normative data for its use in Castilian Spanish-speaking individuals.

Methods: The sample consisted of 798 individuals who participated in an observational study on essential hypertension.

High daytime and nighttime ambulatory pulse pressure predict poor cognitive function and mild cognitive impairment in hypertensive individuals.

High blood pressure accelerates normal aging stiffness process. Arterial stiffness (AS) has been previously associated with impaired cognitive function and dementia. Our aims are to study how cognitive function and status (mild cognitive impairment, MCI and normal cognitive aging, NCA) relate to AS in a community-based population of hypertensive participants assessed with office and 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure measurements.

Prevalence and associated factors of silent brain infarcts in a Mediterranean cohort of hypertensives.

Silent brain infarcts (SBIs) are detected by neuroimaging in approximately 20% of elderly patients in population-based studies. Limited evidence is available for hypertensives at low cardiovascular risk countries. Investigating Silent Strokes in Hypertensives: a Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study (ISSYS) is aimed to assess the prevalence and risk factors of SBIs in a hypertensive Mediterranean population.

Investigating silent strokes in hypertensives: a magnetic resonance imaging study (ISSYS): rationale and protocol design.

Background: Silent brain infarcts are detected by neuroimaging in up to 20% of asymptomatic patients based on population studies. They are five times more frequent than stroke in general population, and increase significantly both with advancing age and hypertension. Moreover, they are independently associated with the risk of future stroke and cognitive decline.