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Assessing Cortical Cerebral Microinfarcts on High Resolution MR Images
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Assessing Cortical Cerebral Microinfarcts on High Resolution MR Images

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Relationships between Cerebral Vasculopathies and Microinfarcts in a Community-Based Cohort of Older Adults

Mo-Kyung Sin1, Yan Cheng2, Jeffrey M Roseman3

  • 1College of Nursing, Seattle University, Seattle, WA 98122, USA.

Journal of Clinical Medicine
|June 10, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Cerebral arteriolosclerosis is significantly linked to microinfarcts, affecting their presence, number, and location. Cerebral amyloid angiopathy shows a weaker association, indicating arteriolosclerosis

Area of Science:

  • Neurology
  • Pathology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • Cerebral microinfarcts are implicated in cognitive decline and dementia.
  • Small vessel diseases, including cerebral arteriolosclerosis and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), are associated with microinfarcts.
  • The specific relationships between these vasculopathies and microinfarct characteristics remain incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the associations between cerebral arteriolosclerosis and CAA severity and location with the presence, number, and location of cerebral microinfarcts.
  • To clarify the distinct roles of these two small vessel diseases in microinfarct pathogenesis.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of clinical and autopsy data from 842 participants in the Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) study.
  • Quantification of cerebral arteriolosclerosis and CAA severity (none to severe) and location (cortical, subcortical).
  • Estimation of odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for microinfarcts, adjusting for covariates.

Main Results:

  • Moderate and severe cerebral arteriolosclerosis were significantly associated with an increased presence (OR 2.16-4.63) and number (OR 2.25-4.91) of microinfarcts.
  • These associations extended to both cortical and subcortical microinfarcts.
  • Cerebral amyloid angiopathy showed weak, non-significant associations with the presence, number, or location of microinfarcts across all severity levels.

Conclusions:

  • Cerebral arteriolosclerosis is strongly associated with the occurrence, quantity, and distribution of cerebral microinfarcts.
  • Cerebral amyloid angiopathy demonstrates a limited role in microinfarct development in this cohort.
  • Further research is needed to elucidate the precise mechanisms by which small vessel diseases contribute to cerebral microinfarcts.

Keywords:
arteriolosclerosiscerebral amyloid angiopathycorticalmicroinfarctssubcortical

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