Association between substantia nigra degeneration and functional outcome in patients with basal ganglia infarction

Background and purpose: Cerebral infarction in the basal ganglia may cause secondary and delayed neuronal degeneration in the substantia nigra (SN). However, the clinical significance of SN degeneration remains poorly understood. Methods: This retrospective observational study included patients with acute ischemic stroke in the basal ganglia on initial diffusion-weighted imaging who underwent follow-up diffusion-weighted imaging between 4 and 30 days after symptom onset. SN degeneration was defined as a hyperintensity lesion in the SN observed on diffusion-weighted imaging. We compared functional outcomes at 3 months between patients with and without SN degeneration. A poor outcome was defined as a score of 3–6 (functional dependence or death) on the modified Rankin Scale. Results: Of 350 patients with basal ganglia infarction (median age = 74.0 years, 53.7% male), 125 (35.7%) had SN degeneration. The proportion of functional dependence or death was 79.2% (99/125 patients) in patients with SN degeneration, which was significantly higher than that in those without SN degeneration (56.4%, 127/225 patients, p < 0.001). SN degeneration was more frequent in patients with functional dependence or death (99/226 patients, 43.8%) than in those with functional independence (26/124 patients, 21.0%, p < 0.001). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed a significant association between SN degeneration and functional dependence or death (odds ratio = 2.91, 95% confidence interval = 1.17–7.21, p = 0.021). Conclusions: The study showed that patients with degeneration of SN were associated with functional dependence or death at 3 months, suggesting that secondary degeneration is a predictor of poor stroke outcomes and a potential therapeutic target.