Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 5, 2026
Using Retinal Imaging to Study Dementia
Published on: November 6, 2017
Intracranial atherosclerosis and dementia: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study
Jennifer L Dearborn1, Yiyi Zhang1, Ye Qiao1
1From the Department of Neurology (J.L.D.), Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT; Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology, and Clinical Research (Y.Z., R.F.G., A.M.R., E.G.), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; The Russell H. Morgan Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences (Y.Q., L.L., B.A.W.) and Department of Neurology (R.F.G.), Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD; Department of Neurology (M.F.K.S.), University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Minneapolis; Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics (T.H.M.), The University of Mississippi School of Medicine, Jackson; Department of Epidemiology (A.A.), Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA; and Department of Neurology (D.S.K.), The Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.
Objective:
To explore the association of intracranial atherosclerotic disease (ICAD) with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia.
Methods:
From 2011 to 2013, 1,744 participants completed high-resolution vessel wall MRI from the population-based Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study by a sampling strategy that allowed weighting back to the cohort. We defined ICAD by plaque features (presence, territory, stenosis, number). Trained clinicians used an algorithm incorporating information from interviews and neuropsychological and neurologic examinations to adjudicate for MCI and dementia. We determined the relative prevalence ratio (RPR) of MCI or dementia after adjusting for risk factors at midlife using multinomial logistic regression.
Results:
A total of 601 (34.5%) participants had MCI (mean age ± SD, 76.6 ± 5.2 years), 83 (4.8%) had dementia (79.1 ± 5.3 years), and 857 (49.1%) were current or former smokers. Anterior cerebral artery (ACA) plaque (adjusted RPR 3.81, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.57-9.23), >2 territories with plaque (adjusted RPR 2.12, 95% CI 1.00-4.49), and presence of stenosis >50% (adjusted RPR 1.92, 95% CI 1.01-3.65) were associated with increased prevalence of dementia in separate models. Posterior cerebral artery plaque was associated with MCI but did not reach statistical significance for dementia (adjusted RPR MCI 1.43, 95% CI 1.04-1.98; adjusted RPR dementia 1.58, 95% CI 0.79-2.85). There were no associations with middle cerebral artery atherosclerotic lesions or cognitive impairment. Many participants had plaque in >1 territory (n = 291, 46%) and participants with ACA plaques (n = 69) had the greatest number of plaques in other territories (mean 6.0, SD 4.4).
Conclusions:
This study demonstrates associations between ICAD and clinical MCI and dementia.
More Related Videos
05:12A Mouse Model for Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Based on Needle-guided Asymmetric Bilateral Common Carotid Artery Stenosis
Published on: November 22, 2024
07:30Evaluation of the Cognitive Performance of Hypertensive Patients with Silent Cerebrovascular Lesions
Published on: April 23, 2021
Related Concept Videos
01:30Dementia
The progression of dementia is generally gradual....
01:27Atherosclerosis II: Clinical Manifestations and Diagnostic Tests
01:30Coronary Artery Disease I: Introduction
01:26Atherosclerosis III: Management
01:26Alzheimer's Disease: Overview
The clinical diagnosis of AD hinges on the presence of memory and other cognitive impairments. Biomarkers, such as changes in Aβ...
01:30Atherosclerosis I: Introduction