Abstract
Lenticulostriate arteries (LSAs) supply blood to important subcortical areas and are, therefore, essential for maintaining the optimal functioning of the brain’s most metabolically active nuclei. Past studies have demonstrated the potential for quantifying the morphology of LSAs as biomarkers of vascular fragility or underlying arteriopathies. Thus, the current study aims to evaluate the morphological features of LSAs, their potential value in cerebrovascular risk stratification, and their concordance with other vascular risk factors in community-dwelling elderly people. A total of 125 community-dwelling elderly subjects who underwent a brain MRI scan were selected from our prospectively collected imaging database. The morphological measures of LSAs were calculated on the vascular skeletons obtained by manual tracing, and the number of LSAs was counted. Additionally, imaging biomarkers of small vessel disease were evaluated, and the diameters of major cerebral arteries were measured. The effects of vascular risk factors on LSA morphometry, as well as the relationship between LSA measures and other imaging biomarkers, were investigated. We found that smokers had shorter (p = 0.04) and straighter LSAs (p < 0.01) compared to nonsmokers, and the presence of hypertension is associated with less tortuous LSAs (p = 0.03) in community-dwelling elderly. Moreover, the middle cerebral artery diameter was positively correlated with LSA count (r = 0.278, p = 0.025) and vessel tortuosity (r = 0.257, p = 0.04). The posterior cerebral artery diameter was positively correlated with vessel tortuosity and vessel length. Considering the scarcity of noninvasive methods for measuring small artery abnormalities in the brain, the LSA morphological measures may provide valuable information to better understand cerebral small vessel degeneration during aging.
Highlights
As one of the most critical vascular structures in the human brain, lenticulostriate arteries (LSAs) supplies blood to important subcortical areas, including the caudate nucleus, globus pallidus, putamen, and part of the posterior limb of the internal capsule (Marinkovicet al., 2001)
After quantifying the LSA number and vessel morphology for each subject, we found that the median LSA number for each subject was 8, and the median length was 17.8 mm
We investigated the relation between intracranial volume (ICV) and LSA morphology and found that the ICV was negatively correlated with median vessel tortuosity index (VTI) (p = 0.01)
Summary
As one of the most critical vascular structures in the human brain, lenticulostriate arteries (LSAs) supplies blood to important subcortical areas, including the caudate nucleus, globus pallidus, putamen, and part of the posterior limb of the internal capsule (Marinkovicet al., 2001). Originating from the high flow middle cerebral artery (MCA), LSAs are end arteries with small. Characteristic of Lenticulostriate Artery Morphylogy outer diameters (Marinkovicet al., 2001). This abrupt size and flow change make LSAs especially susceptible to damage (e.g., hypertension). The arterial consequences of risk factors, such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and smoking, start to surface (Chamorro et al, 1996). Cerebral hypoperfusion promoted by these risk factors may eventually result in various neuropsychological diseases. Considering that perforating vessels like LSAs are essential for maintaining the optimal functioning of the brain’s most metabolically active nuclei (Wardlaw et al, 2013), in vivo imaging of LSAs could provide essential insights and help in understanding the physiology and mechanism of vascular events during normal aging
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