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Cortical microinfarcts on 3T MRI: Clinical correlates in memory‐clinic patients
Author(s) -
Veluw Susanne J.,
Hilal Saima,
Kuijf Hugo J.,
Ikram Mohammad Kamran,
Xin Xu,
Yeow Tan Boon,
Venketasubramanian Narayanaswamy,
Biessels Geert Jan,
Chen Christopher
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2014.12.010
Subject(s) - memory clinic , dementia , medicine , magnetic resonance imaging , population , neuropsychology , cognition , disease , radiology , psychiatry , environmental health
This is the first study to assess cerebral microinfarcts (CMIs) on 3 tesla (3T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a memory clinic population. Methods We included 238 consecutive patients (aged 72.5 ± 9.1 years) from a memory clinic in Singapore. All patients underwent extensive neurological and neuropsychological testing and 3T MRI on the same day. Cortical CMI rating criteria were adapted from a previous study on 7T MRI. We analyzed the frequency and association of cortical CMIs with demographic, clinical, cognition, and other MRI findings. Results Seventy‐five patients (32%) had cortical CMIs (median 1, range 1–43). Patients with CMIs showed worse cognitive functioning on MMSE, and in the domains of language and visuoconstruction. The presence of CMIs was related to other markers of small vessel disease, but most strongly larger cortical infarcts. Patients with CMIs were more often diagnosed with vascular dementia. Discussion Cortical CMIs on 3T MRI are a novel marker of cerebrovascular disease in dementia.