Modifiable cardiovascular risk factors in patients with sporadic cerebral cavernous malformations: obesity matters

Objective

To assess the influence of modifiable cardiovascular risk factors on hemorrhage risk of sporadic cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs).

Methods

From 1219 consecutive CCM patients (2003-2018), adult subjects with sporadic CCM and complete MRI were included. We evaluated presence of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) as mode of presentation, occurrence of ICH during follow-up and risk factors arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, nicotine abuse, and obesity (BMI>30kg/m²). Impact of risk factors on ICH at presentation was calculated using univariate and multivariate logistic regression with age- and sex-adjustment. We performed Kaplan Meier and Cox regression to analyze cumulative 5-year-risk for (re-)bleeding. 

Results

We included 682 CCM patients. The univariate logistic regression showed a significant relationship (OR=1.938, 95% CI: (1.120–3.353), p=0.018) between obesity and ICH as mode of presentation. Multivariate adjusted logistic regres...