Serum Uric Acid Is Associated with Cerebral White Matter Hyperintensities in Patients with Acute Lacunar Infarction

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Effect of Cilostazol in Acute Lacunar Infarction Based on Pulsatility Index of Transcranial Doppler (ECLIPse) study showed a significant decrease in transcranial Doppler pulsatility index (PI) with cilostazol treatment after 90 days of acute lacunar infarction. The aim of this analysis was to perform a subgroup analysis of the ECLIPse study to explore the relationship between serum uric acid (UA) and the volume of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in patients with acute lacunar infarction. METHODS The ECLIPse was a multicenter, randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled study conducted in Korea. For this subgroup analysis, WMH volume was measured for those subjects for whom FLAIR or T2‐weighted images were available using semiautomated computerized software. RESULTS Of the 203 patients in 8 hospitals in the ECLIPse study, 130 in 6 hospitals were entered for this subgroup analysis. The mean age was 64.7 ± 9.95 years, and 20.8% were women. The mean WMH volume was 11.57 cm3 (.13 to 68.45, median 4.86) and mean serum UA was 5.2 mg/dL (1.5 to 8.9). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that age (P < .001) and serum UA (P = .013) were significantly associated with WMH volume. Age‐adjusted scatterplots showed that serum UA level was positively related to WMH volume in patients with acute lacunar infarction (r = 0.275, P = .003). CONCLUSIONS This study showed that serum UA was associated with cerebral WMH in patients with acute lacunar infarction.