High Blood Pressure Increases the Risk of Cerebral Microbleeds in Hypertensive Individuals

Abstract

Introduction: Hypertension is the leading preventable risk factor for major cardiovascular diseases worldwide. Recently, compelling evidence has emerged associating hypertension with cerebral microbleeds (CMBs), which are subclinical hemorrhages in the brain resulting from structural abnormalities in the small vessels that supply the brain. In addition to overall elevated blood pressure (BP), elevation in individual parameters such as systolic BP, diastolic BP, pulse pressure and mean arterial pressure could also individually be important risk factors for CMBs. This study aimed to assess the association between CMBs and blood pressure, and assess blood pressure parameters that could be possible risk factors for CMB. Methods: A retrospective case-control study was conducted from August 2021 to September 2022 on patients who underwent MRI due to primary complaints of limb disorders, loss of consciousness, persistent dizziness, and intermittent headaches. The patients were divided according to MRI results into 52 cases (those who had CMBs) and 52 controls (those who had no CMBs). Extracted data were analyzed in SPSS. Chi-square test, binary logistic regression, and Spearman’s correlation analysis were conducted. Results: In total, 104 cases and control patients were assessed, with mean (±SD) age 70.6 ± 8.56 vs 68.9 ± 8.93 years respectively (p > 0.05). CMB patients had more cases of stroke, hyperlipidemia and diabetes than non-CMB patients. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure, pulse pressure (PP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were all considerably raised in CMB patients than non-CMBs patients. Blood pressure grades were positively correlated with the severity of CMBs (r = 0.22; p = 0.044). Logistic regression analysis showed that SBP and MAP were independent risk factors for CMBs (age and sex adjusted odds ratio = 1.420; 95% CI: 1.030 - 1.851, and 1.310; 95% CI: 1.011 - 1.631 respectively). Conclusions: In summary, this study found that hypertension was positively correlated with CMBs severity, and that SBP and MAP are independent risk factors for CMBs in patients with hypertension.