Abstract
BACKGROUND: The purpose of the present study is to investigate the association between imaging characteristics and progressive infarction (PI) in patients with anterior circulation single subcortical infarction (ACSSI). METHODS: Between January 2020 and October 2022, we retrospectively enrolled 638 ACSSI patients admitted to the Stroke Unit of First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University within 48 h after symptom onset. Demographic characteristics, clinical information, laboratory data, and imaging features (the number of infarct slices and the maximal diameter of infarcts) were collected. RESULTS: There were 121 patients with PI, accounting for 18.9% of the total. In univariate analysis, the infarct slice number tended to be higher in the PI group (P < 0.05). Additionally, patients with PI had a higher frequency of infarct diameter≥ 10 mm and infarct slices≥3 than patients without PI (P < 0.05). Patients diagnosed with branch atheromatous disease (BAD) were more likely to develop PI compared to lacunar infarction (LI) when BAD was defined as axial slices of infarcts ≥ 3 and the infarct diameter ≥10 mm (P < 0.05). Multivariate logistic analysis revealed that slice number ≥ 3 remained slightly significant after adjusting all variables with P < 0.05. Finally, receiver operating characteristic curves were used to compare discriminative abilities and suggested slices of infarcts ≥ 3 were superior to other imaging variables to predict PI in ACSSI patients. CONCLUSION: The present study suggests a lesion visible ≥3 slices is independently correlated with PI in ACSSI patients. The slice number of infarcts in ASCCI is a superior indicator to predict PI than other imaging markers.