Research on Predictive Factors of Early Neurological Deterioration of Stroke Related to Branch Atheromatous Disease

Abstract

Strokes related to acute branch atherosclerosis (BAD) account for 10% to 15% of all causes of ischemic stroke. Clinically, it is mostly manifested as early neurological deterioration (END) mainly due to the lack of motor function. It mostly occurs in 48~72h, and the clinical prognosis is poor. It is reported that the incidence of END in BAD-related stroke is as high as 17% to 75%. However, the definition of END lacks consistency in different studies: but most studies are based on the definition of clinical deterioration. In order to solve this scientific problem, we conducted a prospective cohort study at Xianyang Hospital of Yan’an University to investigate the predictive factors of early neurological deterioration in BAD-related stroke. This study is a single-center, observational prospective cohort study. This prospective study continuously included all BAD-related stroke patients in neurology of Xianyang Hospital of Yan’an University from August 2024 to August 2025. According to the criteria for the selection and exclusion of clinical research subjects, the eligible patients were divided into END group and non-END group according to whether early neurological dysfunction deterioration occurred. A total of 554 stroke patients were included in this retrospective study, of which the non-END group accounted for 429 cases and the END group accounted for 125 cases. The main purpose of the study is to explore the predictors of early neurological deterioration in BAD-related stroke.