Neurological Signs in Relation to White Matter Hyperintensity Volumes in Memory Clinic Patients

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the frequency of neurological signs in a memory clinic population and to explore their associations with white matter hyperintensity (WMH). Methods: We included patients with Alzheimer disease (AD; n = 210), vascular dementia (VaD; n = 34), mild cognitive impairment (MCI; n = 86) and subjective complaints (n = 153). The presence of extrapyramidal and unilateral signs was assessed from medical charts. On MRI, WMH volumes were extracted automatically. Results: Extrapyramidal signs were found in 10% and unilateral signs in 12% of the patients. Age- and sex-adjusted extrapyramidal signs occurred more often in VaD compared to patients with subjective complaints. Unilateral signs were more prevalent in all groups compared to patients with subjective complaints. Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with WMH as the dependent variable showed a main effect of diagnosis (p < 0.001), but not of extrapyramidal signs (p = 0.62). In contrast, 2-way ANOVA showed main effects of diagnosis (p < 0.001) and unilateral signs (p = 0.001). Furthermore, there was an interaction between these factors (p = 0.04); if unilateral signs were present, patients with subjective complaints and VaD showed more WMH, whereas there was no relation in AD and MCI. Conclusion: Extrapyramidal and unilateral signs are common in memory clinic patients, but are only modestly related to WMH.