Abstract:
ob<x>jective To improve clinicians’ understanding of the disease, we analyzed the clinical imaging characteristics and high-risk factors of patients with active cancer complicated with cerebral infarction. Methods 86 patients with active cancer related stroke (ACS) registered from January 2012 to December 2020 were retrospectively collected and a total of 86 active cancer (AC) patients without cerebral infarction were included as the control group. The clinical characteristics of the two groups were compared and analyzed, and the related factors affecting the occurrence of cerebral infarction in patients with active cancer were discussed. The ACS group was further divided into single vascular territory (SV) and multiple vascular territories (MV), and the imaging characteristics of cerebral infarction in active cancer were analyzed. Results Among ACS patients, lung cancer (39.5%) was the most common type, patients with TMN stage IV (52.3%) accounted for the highest proportion, and adenocarcinoma (68.6%) was the most common histopathological type. Compared with the AC group, the levels of inflammatory markers such as white blood cells, neutrophils, NLR, and hs-CRP in the ACS group were higher (all p < 0.05), the proportion of patients with tumor markers CA125 > 35u/ml was higher (p = 0.003), and the incidence of DIC was also higher (p < 0.001). Conditional logistic regression analysis showed plasma D-dimer (≥5ug/ml) (OR 14.51; 95%CI: 3.45-60.98; P<0.001), Conut score (OR: 2.22 for every 2 points increase; 95%CI): 1.08-4.57; P=0.031), together with vascular risk factors (≥2) (OR: 4.80; 95%CI: 1.74-13.21; P=0.002) were independently associated with cerebral infarction in patients with active cancer. In the ACS group, the number of patients in the MV group was 51 (59.3%), of which 49% had lesions involving three vascular territories (bilateral anterior circulation and posterior circulation) at the same time. Moreover, fibrinogen (median 2.99g/l vs 4.01g/l, p=0.000), hs-CRP (median 37.50mg/l vs 11.90mg/l, p=0.000), DIC (37.3%vs5.7%, p=0.001) and D-dimer (≥5ug/ml) (72.3% vs 20.5%, p=0.000) in the MV group were statistically different from that of the SV group. Conclusion Patients with active cancer-related stroke tend to have higher D-dimer levels, more vascular risk factors, and higher Conut scores. Hypercoagulable state, vascular risk factors, and malnutrition may be important factors affecting the onset of cerebral infarction in active cancer, and the improvement of these factors may reduce the incidence of cerebral infarction in cancer patients. Multiple lesions involving multiple-vascular territories are the classic imaging features of cerebral infarction in patients with active cancer, and inflammatory effects and hypercoagulability may contribute to the occurrence of active cancer-related stroke.