Association of vascular risk factors with cervical artery dissection and ischemic stroke in young adults.

Circulation 123(14):1537-44 (2011) PMID 21444882

Little is known about the risk factors for cervical artery dissection (CEAD), a major cause of ischemic stroke (IS) in young adults. Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, hypercholesterolemia, and obesity are important risk factors for IS. However, their specific role in CEAD is poorly investigated. Our aim was to compare the prevalence of vascular risk factors in CEAD patients versus referents and patients who suffered an IS of a cause other than CEAD (non-CEAD IS) in the multicenter Cervical Artery Dissection and Ischemic Stroke Patients (CADISP) study. The study sample comprised 690 CEAD patients (mean age, 44.2 ± 9.9 years; 43.9% women), 556 patients with a non-CEAD IS (44.7 ± 10.5 years; 39.9% women), and 1170 referents (45.9 ± 8.1 years; 44.1% women). We compared the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, smoking, and obesity (body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m²) or overweightness (body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m² and