Intracranial Atherosclerosis and Stage 1 Hypertension Defined by the 2017 ACC/AHA Guideline

Abstract Background In 2017, the American College of Cardiology (ACC)/American Heart Association (AHA) released a new, stricter definition of stage 1 hypertension which was previously considered prehypertension. However, impacts of the novel stage 1 hypertension on deleterious target-organ outcomes are still controversial. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between this newly defined stage 1 hypertension and the presence of intracranial atherosclerosis (ICAS) lesions in neurologically healthy participants. Methods We assessed consecutive participants in routine health checkups between January 2006 and December 2013. Blood pressure (BP) was classified according to the 2017 ACC/AHA hypertension guideline, and ICAS was defined as occlusion or ≥50% stenosis of intracranial vessels on flight magnetic resonance angiography. Results Among 3,111 healthy participants (mean age: 56 years, sex: 54% men), 85 (3%) had ICAS lesions. In multivariate analysis, stage 1 hypertension (adjusted odds ratio: 2.46, 95% confidence interval: 1.10–5.51, P = 0.029) remained an independent predictor of ICAS after adjustment for confounders. Stage 2 hypertension showed a higher odds ratio and a lower P value, indicating a dose–response effect. Age and HbA1c level were also significantly associated with ICAS, independent of the BP categories. The ICAS lesion burden showed a dose–response effect across the BP categories (P for trend <0.001), whereas ICAS lesion location did not (P for trend = 0.699). Conclusions We demonstrated that stage 1 hypertension, defined according to the 2017 ACC/AHA guideline, was associated with a higher prevalence and burden of ICAS lesions in a neurologically healthy population.