Temporal changes in total and hippocampal brain volume and cognitive function in patients with chronic heart...

We quantified the concurring dynamics affecting total and hippocampal brain volume and cognitive function in patients with chronic heart failure (HF) over a period of three years.

A total of 148 patients with mild stable HF entered this monocentric prospective cohort study: mean age 64.5 (10.8) years; 16.2% female; 77% in New York Heart Association functional classes I-II; 128 and 105 patients attended follow-up visits after 1 and 3 years, respectively. The assessment included cardiological, neurological, psychological work-up, and brain magnetic resonance imaging. Total and regional brain volumes were quantified using an operator-independent fully automated approach and reported normalized to the mean estimated intracranial volume. At baseline, the mean hippocampal volume was ∼13% lower than expected. However, the 3-year progressive hippocampal volume loss was small: -62 mm3 [95% confidence interval (CI) -81 to -42, P < 0.0001). This corresponded to a relative change of -1.8% (95% CI -2.3 to -1.2), which was similar in magnitude as observed with physiological aging. Moreover, the load of white matter hypointensities increased within the limits of normal aging. Cognitive function during the 3-year observation period remained stable, with 'intensity of attention' as the only domain declining (LSmean -1.82 points, 95% CI -3.05 to -0.58, P = 0.004). After 3 years, performance in all domains of cognition remained associated with hippocampal volume (r ≥ 0.29).

In patients with predominantly mild HF, the markedly reduced hippocampal volume observed at baseline was associated with impaired cognitive function, but no accelerated deterioration in cognition and brain atrophy became evident over a mid-term period of three years.