Study Links Arterial Widening to Lacunar Stroke Risk
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- University of Edinburgh and the UK Dementia Research Institute analyzed 229 stroke patients and found arterial widening strongly linked to lacunar strokes.
- Lacunar strokes affect about 35,000 people in the UK each year, representing roughly a quarter of all strokes.
- Widened arteries made patients more than four times as likely to experience a lacunar stroke compared with those without such widening.
- Aspirin and other blood thinners are less effective at preventing lacunar strokes because the condition stems from microvascular damage rather than arterial blockage.
- Joanna Wardlaw said the findings highlight the urgent need for new therapies targeting small‑vessel disease.
Why it matters: Stroke patients and the NHS will see better outcomes and lower costs if new microvascular therapies replace ineffective anti‑platelet drugs, reducing the 35,000 annual lacunar cases in the UK.
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