Researchers have identified a new cause of lacunar strokes, which affect around 35,000 people in the UK each year. The study, published on Wednesday, suggests that these strokes are not caused by blocked arteries, as previously thought, but by the widening and enlargement of arteries in the brain.
Lacunar strokes account for a quarter of all strokes in the UK. The finding may explain why aspirin and other blood thinners, commonly used to prevent ischaemic strokes, are less effective in preventing this type of stroke.
The research, led by the University of Edinburgh and the UK Dementia Research Institute, analysed 229 patients who had experienced either a lacunar or mild non-lacunar stroke. It found that patients with widened arteries were more than four times as likely to have a lacunar stroke.
Joanna Wardlaw, professor of applied neuroimaging at the University of Edinburgh, said: “This study provides strong evidence that lacunar stroke is not caused by fatty blockage of larger arteries, but by disease of the small vessels within the brain itself. Recognising this distinction is crucial, because it explains why conventional treatments like anti-platelet drugs are not as effective for this type of stroke and highlights the urgent need to develop new therapies.”
Maeva May, director of policy for the Stroke Association, said the findings “illustrate the value of research” and called for more funding, noting that stroke research receives less than 1% of total UK research funding. “Stroke is the leading cause of complex adult disability and the fourth leading cause of death in the UK,” she added.
