Diagnostic value of 18F-AV45 positron emission tomography for cerebral microbleeds of different regions

Abstract

Objective To analyze the relationship of cerebral microbleeds(CMBs)of different regions, especially mixed-CMBs, with cerebral amyloid angiopathy(CAA)detected using 18F-AV45 positron emission tomography(PET). Methods A total of 52 consecutive patients(68.17±9.89 years old)with memory decline and CMBs found in susceptibility-weighted images(SWI)according to the inclusive and exclusive criteria were recruited.Patients were divided into three groups based on different regions of CMBs, the strictly lobar CMBs(SL-CMBs)group, the deep-CMBs(D-CMBs)group and the mixed-CMBs(M-CMBs)group.Patients in the three groups underwent 18F-AV45 PET detection and then were analyzed based on the results of 18F-AV45 PET. Results The positive rates of cerebral amyloid angiopathy in the SL-CMBs, M-CMBs and D-CMBs groups were 68.4%(13/19), 82.4%(14/17) and 25.0%(4/16), respectively, with statistical significance(P=0.002). There were significant differences in positive rates of cerebral amyloid angiopathy between the D-CMBs group and the M-CMBs group and between the D-CMBs group and the SL-CMBs group(P=0.001 and 0.010, respectively), while there was no difference between the M-CMBs and SL-CMBs groups in positive rates of cerebral amyloid angiopathy(P=0.335). Using the D-CMBs group as the reference group, multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the odds ratios of positive CCA detected by PET in SL-CMBs and M-CMBs were 30.585(95%CI: 2.492-375.360)and 8.107(95%CI: 1.072-61.295), respectively. Conclusions Compared with D-CMBs, M-CMBs and SL-CMBs are more likely to be related to cerebral amyloid angiopathy.The presence of M-CMBs also indicates that patients have a high probability of CAA. Key words: Cerebral hemorrhage; Cerebral amyloid angiopathy; Hypertension; Positron emission tomography