Goal
Add clarity to the relationship between deep and periventricular brain white matter hyperintensities, cerebral blood flow and cerebrovascular risk in older persons.
Methods
Deep and periventricular WMH and regional grey and white matter blood flow from arterial spin labeling were quantified from magnetic resonance imaging scans of 26 cognitively normal elder subjects stratified by cerebrovascular disease risk. FLAIR images were acquired using a high-resolution 3D sequence that reduced partial volume effects seen with slice-based techniques.
Findings
Deep WMH (dWMH) but not periventricular WMH (pWMH) were increased in the high CVD risk patients; pWMH but not dWMH were associated with decreased regional cortical (GM) blood flow. We also found blood flow in white matter is decreased in regions of both pWMH and dWMH, with a greater degree of decrease in pWMH areas.
Conclusion
WMH are usefully divided into dWMH and pWMH regions because they demonstrate differential effects. Three-dimensional regional WMH volume is a potentially valuable marker for CVD based on associations with cortical CBF and with white matter CBF.
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