Framingham Stroke Risk Profile is related to cerebral small vessel disease progression and lower cognitive performance in patients with hypertension

The Framingham Stroke Risk Profile (FSRP) was developed to predict clinical stroke. We investigated if FSRP is associated with more silent effects of cerebrovascular disease, namely progression of cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD)-related brain damage and cognitive performance in hypertensive patients. Ninety patients with essential hypertension underwent a brain MRI scan and FSRP assessment at baseline, and a second brain MRI scan and neuropsychological assessment at 9-year follow-up. We visually rated progression of cSVD-related MRI markers. FSRP was associated with progressive periventricular white matter hyperintensities (P=.017) and new microbleeds (P=.031), but not after correction for the FSRP age component. FSRP was associated with lower overall cognitive performance (P<.001) and this remained significant after correction for the FSRP age component. A vascular risk score might be useful in predicting progression of cSVD-related brain damage or future cognitive performance in hypertensive patients. Age seems to be the most important component in FSRP.