Hippocampal sulcal cavities: prevalence, risk factors and association with cognitive performance. The SMART-Medea study and PREDICT-MR study

Kim Blom,On Behalf Of The Smart Study Group ,Jeroen Hendrikse,Yolanda Van Der Graaf,Huiberdina L Koek,Laura E M Wisse,Mirjam I Geerlings,Geert Jan Biessels,Maarten H T Zwartbol

doi:10.1007/s11682-018-9916-y

Kim Blom, On Behalf Of The Smart Study Group + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11682-018-9916-y

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Abstract

Hippocampal sulcal cavities (HSCs) are frequently observed on MRI, but their etiology and relevance is unclear. HSCs may be anatomical variations, or result from pathology. We assessed the presence of HSCs, and their cross-sectional association with demographics, vascular risk factors and cognitive functioning in two study samples. Within a random sample of 92 patients with vascular disease from the SMART-Medea study (mean age = 62, SD = 9 years) and 83 primary care patients from the PREDICT-MR study (mean age = 62, SD = 12 years) one rater manually scored HSCs at 1.5 T 3D T1-weighted coronal images blind to patient information. We estimated relative risks of age, sex and vascular risk factors with presence of HSCs using Poisson regression with log-link function and robust standard errors adjusted for age and sex. Using ANCOVA adjusted for age, sex, and education we estimated the association of the number of HSCs with memory, executive functioning, speed, and working memory. In the SMART-Medea study HSCs were present in 65% and in 52% in the PREDICT-MR study (χ2 = 2.99, df = 1, p = 0.08). In both samples, no significant associations were observed between presence of HSCs and age (SMART-Medea: RR = 1.00; 95%CI 0.98–1.01; PREDICT-MR: RR = 1.01; 95%CI 0.99–1.03), sex, or vascular risk factors. Also, no associations between HSCs and cognitive functioning were found in either sample. HSCs are frequently observed on 1.5 T MRI. Our findings suggest that, in patients with a history of vascular disease and primary care attendees, HSCs are part of normal anatomic variation of the human hippocampus rather than markers of pathology.

Highlights

The hippocampus plays an important role in memory and cognitive processes (Squire 1992)
No significant associations were observed between age, sex or vascular risk factors and presence of hippocampal sulcal cavities (HSCs) (Table 3)
We observed that hippocampal sulcal cavities (HSCs) were very common on 1.5 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

Summary

Introduction

The hippocampus plays an important role in memory and cognitive processes (Squire 1992). Volume reduction of the hippocampus is a common finding on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and is part of normal aging as well as of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) (Small et al 2011). Apart from volume reduction, hippocampal sulcal cavities (HSCs) are frequently observed on MRI, which appear as small changes in signal intensity, isointense to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). It has been estimated that HSCs are observed as frequent as 47% in healthy persons and in 66% of patients with impaired memory (Maller et al 2011). The prevalence of HSCs may be positively correlated with age (Maller et al 2011). Several studies observed that HSCs are normal variations originating from embryonal folding of the

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