Correlation Between Gait Disorders And White Matter Hyperintensity In Patients With Cerebral Small Vessel Disease

Background: Cerebral small vessel diseases,the most common cerebrovascular disease,has a variety of clinical symptoms.It is also the main cause of dementia,falls and even death in the elderly.At present,the diagnosis of cerebral small vessel diseases mainly depends on imaging diagnostic criteria,including new subcortical small infarction,lacunar infarction,white matter hyperintensity,cerebral microbleeds,enlarged perivascular space and brain atrophy.Among them,the white matter hyperintensity demonstrated the highest detection rate,and the white matter hyperintensity has been associated with cognitive impairment,executive function,and gait function.The quality of life of patients who suffer from terminal cerebral small vessel diseases is related to the gait disorders and the risk of falls.Some severe cases will cause the death in the elderly.Therefore,in this study,cerebral small vessel diseases patients were grouped according to the degree of white matter hyperintensity,and gait function test was conducted,so as to do the exploration of the correlation which exists between the gait disorders of cerebral small vessel diseases patients and the white matter hyperintensity,and the influence of different degrees of white matter hyperintensity on gait disorders.The hope is to help identify cerebral small vessel diseases patients at risk for gait disorders early,intervene in controllable risk factors,delay the progression to disease and improve the quality of life in patients in advanced stages.Objective: To do the exploration of the correlation which exists between the gait disorders of cerebral small vessel diseases patients and the white matter hyperintensity,the links between the cerebrovascular disease’s risk factors and white matter hyperintensity,and the influence of varying degrees of white matter hyperintensity on gait disorders.Methods: 70 patients hospitalized in department of neurology were chosen as the target to research from October 2019 to October 2020 in our hospital.Gather general data of patients and distribute patients on the basic of Fazekas score.Results :(1)The difference existed in age,hypertension,duration of hypertension,fasting blood glucose,alcohol consumption among WMH groups was statistically significant,all P<0.05;(2)The results of gait test among WMH groups showed difference,and the worst time completion fell on SPPB,TBGA and TUG in severe-WMH group;(3)WMH patients performed poorly in sitting,360° turning and balance while sitting,with completion rates of 77.1%,78.5% and 14.3%,respectively;(4)There was correlation between the results of gait test and WMH score in all patients,all P<0.05.Conclusion:(1)Cerebral small vessel diseases patients have gait disorders,and gait disorders are related to WMH.The more severe the degree of WMH,the more obvious the gait disorders are;(2)Age,hypertension,duration of hypertension,fasting blood glucose and alcohol consumption were relative to WMH;(3)In patients with gait disorders,the balance function was affected first,and the frequency of balance function impairment was higher than that of walking function impairment.