Abstract
Background and Purpose: Signs of small vessel disease (SVD) are commonly seen on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain in cognitively healthy elderly individuals, and the clinical relevance of these are often unclear. We have previously described three different MRI manifestations of SVD as well as cerebral perfusion in a longitudinal study of non-demented 75-year-old subjects. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the relationship of these findings to cognition and executive function at age 75 and changes after 5 years.Methods: In all, 406 subjects from the Prospective Investigation of the Vasculature in Uppsala Seniors (PIVUS) study were examined with MRI of the brain at age 75 years. Two-hundred and fifty of the subjects were re-examined 5 years later. White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) and lacunar infarcts (LIs) were assessed on both occasions, but microbleeds (MBs) and perfusion only at age 75. Cognitive function was screened by the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Trail Making Test A and B (TMT-A and TMT-B) were performed at baseline and at follow-up at age 80.Results: At baseline, 93% performed >27 points in the MMSE. The TMT-B at age 75 was significantly related to WMH visual scoring after adjustment for sex, education and cerebrovascular disease risk factors (+80 s (95% CI 0.3–161 s), P < 0.05 for grade 2–3 vs. grade 0). Neither MMSE nor TMT-A was significantly related to WMH scoring. There was no relation between any test performance and WMH volume, white matter volume, number of MBs or brain perfusion at age 75. Subjects who had sustained a new LI (n = 26) showed a greater increase of the time to perform TMT-A at the 5-year follow-up (+25 s vs. +4 s in LI-free subjects, P = 0.003). Changes in MMSE or TMT-A and -B test performance between ages 75 and 80 were not related to changes in WMH scoring or volume during the 5 years follow-up, or to brain perfusion at age 75.Conclusion: In this cognitively healthy community-based population, moderate-severe WMHs and incident LIs on brain MRI in individuals aged 75–80 years were associated with a mild impairment of processing speed and executive function.
Highlights
Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is a common process in the ageing brain, which affects small vessels, including arterioles, capillaries and small veins
On magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), these markers are seen as white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) of presumed vascular origin, small subcortical infarcts, lacunar infarcts (LIs), cerebral MBs, prominent perivascular spaces (PVS) and cerebral atrophy (Pantoni, 2010; Wardlaw et al, 2013a)
Neither Mini Mental-State Examination (MMSE) nor TMT-A was significantly related to WMH scoring
Summary
Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is a common process in the ageing brain, which affects small vessels, including arterioles, capillaries and small veins. Multiple and complex pathogenetic mechanisms cause ischemic changes, enlarged perivascular spaces, cerebral microbleeds (MBs) and brain atrophy (Wardlaw et al, 2013a). On magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), these markers are seen as white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) of presumed vascular origin, small subcortical infarcts, lacunar infarcts (LIs), cerebral MBs, prominent perivascular spaces (PVS) and cerebral atrophy (Pantoni, 2010; Wardlaw et al, 2013a). WMHs are seen on MRI as focal or confluent/more extensive signal changes They may be located in the periventricular and/or subcortical white matter. Signs of small vessel disease (SVD) are commonly seen on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain in cognitively healthy elderly individuals, and the clinical relevance of these are often unclear. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the relationship of these findings to cognition and executive function at age 75 and changes after 5 years
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