Poststroke depression in patients with small subcortical infarcts

ObjectivesSmall subcortical infarcts (SSIs) can result from small vessel disease (SVD) and intracranial and extracranial large artery disease (LAD). No study has explored poststroke depression (PSD) in different etiological types of SSIs.MethodsPatients with SSIs resulting from LAD and SVD were included in the study. Poststroke depression was evaluated with the 15-item version of the geriatric depression scale (GDS) 3 months after stroke.ResultsOf the 127 patients with SSIs, 44 had LAD and 83 had SVD. The LAD group had a significantly higher mean GDS score and higher frequency of PSD (p < 0.05). The etiological type LAD was a significant independent risk factor for PSD.ConclusionPSD is more common in patients with SSIs resulting from LAD. This suggests that cerebral blood perfusion may play an important role in the development of PSD.