Open AccessRelationship between white matter connectivity loss and cortical thinning in cerebral amyloid angiopathy
Author(s) -
Reijmer Yael D.,
Fotiadis Panagiotis,
Charidimou Andreas,
van Veluw Susanne J.,
Xiong Li,
Riley Grace A.,
MartinezRamirez Sergi,
Schwab Kristin,
Viswanathan Anand,
Gurol M. Edip,
Greenberg Steven M.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
human brain mapping
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.005
H-Index - 191
eISSN - 1097-0193
pISSN - 1065-9471
DOI - 10.1002/hbm.23629
Subject(s) - white matter , diffusion mri , fractional anisotropy , cerebral amyloid angiopathy , neuroscience , cortex (anatomy) , tractography , psychology , neuroimaging , magnetic resonance imaging , medicine , pathology , dementia , radiology , disease
Patients with cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) show loss of white matter connectivity and cortical thinning on MRI, primarily in posterior brain regions. Here we examined whether a potential causal relationship exists between these markers of subcortical and cortical brain injury by examining whether changes in cortical thickness progress in tandem with changes in their underlying connections. Thirty‐one patients with probable CAA with brain MRI at two time points were included (follow‐up time: 1.3 ± 0.4 years). Brain networks were reconstructed using diffusion MRI‐based fiber tractography. Of each network node, we calculated the change in fractional anisotropy‐weighted connectivity strength over time and the change in cortical thickness. The association between change in connectivity strength and cortical thickness was assessed with (hierarchical) linear regression models. Our results showed that decline in posterior network connectivity over time was strongly related to thinning of the occipital cortex ( β = 0.65 (0.35–0.94), P < 0.001), but not to thinning of the other posterior or frontal cortices. However, at the level of individual network nodes, we found no association between connectivity strength and cortical thinning of the corresponding node ( β = 0.009 ± 0.04, P = 0.80). Associations were independent of age, sex, and other brain MRI markers of CAA. To conclude, CAA patients with greater progressive loss of posterior white matter connectivity also have greater progression of occipital cortical thinning, but our results do not support a direct causal relationship between them. The association can be better explained by a shared underlying mechanism, which may form a potential target for future treatments. Hum Brain Mapp 38:3723–3731, 2017 . © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.