Quantitative electroencephalography in cerebral amyloid angiopathy

We investigated whether quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) correlates with cognition and cortical superficial siderosis (cSS) in cerebral amyloid angiopathy.

We included patients with sporadic (sCAA) and hereditary Dutch-type CAA (D-CAA). Spectral measures and the phase lag index (PLI) were analyzed on qEEG. Cognition was assessed with the MoCA and cSS presence was scored on 3T-MRI. Linear regression analyses were performed to investigate these qEEG measures and cognition. Independent samples T-tests were used to analyze the qEEG measure differences between participants with and without cSS.

We included 92 participants (44 D-CAA; 48 sCAA). A lower average peak frequency (β[95 %CI] = 0.986[0.252-1.721]; P = 0.009) and a higher spectral ratio (β[95 %CI] = -0.918[-1.761--0.075]; P = 0.033) on qEEG correlated with a lower MoCA score, irrespective of a history of symptomatic intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH). The PLI showed no correlation to the MoCA. qEEG slowing was not different in those with or without cSS.

Spectral qEEG (but not PLI) reflects cognitive performance in patients with CAA with and without a history of sICH. We found no association between qEEG slowing and cSS.

qEEG could be a valuable biomarker, especially in challenging cognitive testing situations in CAA, and a potential predictive tool in future studies.