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One in five stroke patients has silent artery disease

By Emma Wilkinson

One in every five patients who has a stroke has asymptomatic coronary artery disease, according to the results of a French study.

Researchers studied 274 patients aged 45 to 75 who had had a transient ischaemic attack or non-disabling stoke and no history of heart disease.

A coronary angiography showed coronary artery stenosis of at least 50% in 18% of patients.

The likelihood of asymptomatic coronary artery disease was also associated with traditional risk scores, increasing by between 2.6-fold and 7.6-fold for a 10-year CHD risk of 10% to 19%, and 7.3-fold to 19.1-fold for a 10-year CHD risk of 20%.

Excessive alcohol consumption was associated with a 3.1 times increased risk of coronary artery disease.

Study leader Dr Jean-Louis Mas, a clinical researcher at the Centre Hospitalier Sainte-Anne in Paris, pointed out that stroke and TIA as risk factors should ‘warrant intensive atherosclerosis risk factor modification'.

One in five stroke patients has asymptomatic coronary artery disease, French researchers found One in five stroke patients has asymptomatic coronary artery disease, French researchers found


          

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