Educational and Clinical Associations With Longitudinal Cognitive Function and Brain Imaging in American Indians: The Strong Heart Study.

Background And Objectives: Little is known about incidence of vascular and Alzheimer dementias in American Indians.

Methods: We conducted a large, heterogeneous, population-based, longitudinal cohort study of brain aging in community-dwelling American Indians aged 64-95 years from 11 tribes across 3 states, with neurologic examinations, 1.5T MRI, and extensive cognitive testing.

Inter-rater and scan-rescan reproducibility of the detection of intracranial atherosclerosis on contrast-enhanced 3D vessel wall MRI.

Objective: The objective is to establish interscan, inter- and intra-rater reproducibility of a multicontrast three-dimensional contrast-enhanced intracranial vessel wall (IVW) MRI protocol with 0.6 mm acquired (0.3 mm interpolated) isotropic resolution in the detection of intracranial atherosclerosis.

The ability of magnetic resonance black blood vessel wall imaging to evaluate blunt cerebrovascular injury following acute trauma.

Background And Purpose: Blunt cerebrovascular injury (BCVI) is associated with a significant risk of ischemic stroke when left untreated. Cross-sectional imaging is vital to early BCVI diagnosis and treatment; however, conventional luminal vessel imaging is limited in its ability to evaluate for vessel wall pathology. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the ability of vessel wall magnetic resonance imaging (VWI) to detect and evaluate BCVI in acutely injured trauma patients relative to neck computed tomographic angiography (CTA).

Neuroimaging findings in midlife and risk of late-life dementia over 20 years of follow-up.

Objective: To examine the association between neuroimaging features in a predominantly middle-aged cohort and risk of late-life dementia.

Methods: Cerebral MRI was performed on 1,881 individuals with no history of stroke from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study cohort in 1993 to 1995. White matter hyperintensities (WMH), ventricular size, and sulcal size were graded on a semiquantitative scale, and presence of silent cerebral infarcts was identified.

Added Value of Vessel Wall Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Differentiation of Nonocclusive Intracranial Vasculopathies.

Background And Purpose: Our goal is to determine the added value of intracranial vessel wall magnetic resonance imaging (IVWI) in differentiating nonocclusive vasculopathies compared with luminal imaging alone.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed images from patients with both luminal and IVWI to identify cases with clinically defined intracranial vasculopathies: atherosclerosis (intracranial atherosclerotic disease), reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome, and inflammatory vasculopathy. Two neuroradiologists blinded to clinical data reviewed the luminal imaging of defined luminal stenoses/irregularities and evaluated the pattern of involvement to make a presumed diagnosis with diagnostic confidence.

Left Ventricular Mass, Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging, and Cognitive Performance: Results From the Strong Heart Study.

Left ventricular mass (LVM) has been shown to serve as a measure of target organ damage resulting from chronic exposure to several risk factors. Data on the association of midlife LVM with later cognitive performance are sparse. We studied 721 adults (mean age 56 years at baseline) enrolled in the Strong Heart Study (SHS, 1993-1995) and the ancillary CDCAI (Cerebrovascular Disease and Its Consequences in American Indians) Study (2010-2013), a study population with high prevalence of cardiovascular disease.

Total Brain and Hippocampal Volumes and Cognition in Older American Indians: The Strong Heart Study.

Background: Estimates of hippocampal volume by magnetic resonance imaging have clinical and cognitive correlations and can assist in early Alzheimer disease diagnosis. However, little is known about the relationship between global or regional brain volumes and cognitive test performance in American Indians.

Materials And Methods: American Indian participants (N=698; median age, 72 y) recruited for the Cerebrovascular Disease and its Consequences in American Indians study, an ancillary study of the Strong Heart Study cohort, were enrolled.

Findings of Vascular Brain Injury and Structural Loss from Cranial Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Elderly American Indians: The Strong Heart Study.

Background: The Cerebrovascular Disease and its Consequences in American Indians study conducted cranial MRI examination of surviving participants of the Strong Heart Study, a longitudinal cohort of elderly American Indians.

Methods: Of the 1,033 recruited participants, some were unable to complete the MRI (n = 22), some scans were unusable due to participant motion or technical errors (n = 13), and one community withdrew consent after data collection (n = 209), leaving 789 interpretable MRI scan images. Six image sequences were obtained in contiguous slices on 1.

White Matter Lesion Progression: Genome-Wide Search for Genetic Influences.

Background And Purpose: White matter lesion (WML) progression on magnetic resonance imaging is related to cognitive decline and stroke, but its determinants besides baseline WML burden are largely unknown. Here, we estimated heritability of WML progression, and sought common genetic variants associated with WML progression in elderly participants from the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium.

Methods: Heritability of WML progression was calculated in the Framingham Heart Study.

Setting a gold standard for quantification of leukoaraiosis burden in patients with ischemic stroke: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study.

Background: Accurate and reliable measurement of leukoaraiosis, or MR-detected white, matter hyper-intensity (WMH) burden in subjects with acute ischemic stroke (AIS) is important for, ongoing research studies and future models of risk and outcome prediction, but the presence of a, cerebral infarct may complicate measurement. We sought to assess accuracy of a volumetric method, designed to measure WMH in AIS subjects as compared to the previously validated protocol.

New Method: We randomly selected and equally sampled 120 brain scans from the Atherosclerosis, Risk in Communities (ARIC) MRI Study individuals within designated mild, moderate, and severe, tertiles of WMH volume (WMHV).

Genome-wide association studies of cerebral white matter lesion burden: the CHARGE consortium.

Objective: White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) detectable by magnetic resonance imaging are part of the spectrum of vascular injury associated with aging of the brain and are thought to reflect ischemic damage to the small deep cerebral vessels. WMHs are associated with an increased risk of cognitive and motor dysfunction, dementia, depression, and stroke. Despite a significant heritability, few genetic loci influencing WMH burden have been identified.

Retinal microvascular signs and 10-year risk of cerebral atrophy: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study.

Background And Purpose: Cerebral atrophy, detected as ventricular enlargement or sulcal widening on MRI, is recognized as a risk factor for vascular dementia or Alzheimer disease. However, its underlying pathophysiology is not known. We examined whether retinal microvascular assessment could provide predictive information on the risk of ventricular enlargement and sulcal widening on MRI.

Retinal microvascular abnormalities and subclinical magnetic resonance imaging brain infarct: a prospective study.

Silent brain infarct and white matter lesions are common radiological findings associated with the risk of clinical stroke and dementia; however, our understanding of their underlying pathophysiology and risk factors remains limited. This study aimed to determine whether assessment of retinal microvascular abnormalities could provide prognostic information regarding the risk of brain infarct and white matter lesions on magnetic resonance imaging. This study is based on a subset of 810 middle-aged persons without clinical stroke or baseline magnetic resonance imaging infarct enrolled in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study, a prospective, population-based study.

Genome-wide association studies of MRI-defined brain infarcts: meta-analysis from the CHARGE Consortium.

Background And Purpose: Previous studies examining genetic associations with MRI-defined brain infarct have yielded inconsistent findings. We investigated genetic variation underlying covert MRI infarct in persons without histories of transient ischemic attack or stroke. We performed meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of white participants in 6 studies comprising the Cohorts for Heart and Aging Research in Genomic Epidemiology (CHARGE) consortium.

Blood pressure and white-matter disease progression in a biethnic cohort: Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study.

Background And Purpose: Blood pressure (BP) is a predictor of concurrent and subsequently measured white-matter hyperintensity (WMH), but longitudinal studies of WMH changes and data in black participants are lacking. We hypothesized that WMH progression would be (1) strongly related to BP in blacks and whites and (2) predicted more strongly by earlier (midlife) or cumulative BP measurements than by measures at older ages.

Methods: Participants were 983 individuals (49% black) from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study who underwent cerebral magnetic resonance imaging in 1993-1995 and 2004-2006.

Interrater reliability in assessing quality of diagnostic accuracy studies using the QUADAS tool. A preliminary assessment.

Rationale And Objectives: Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS) is a new tool to measure the methodological quality of diagnostic accuracy studies in systematic reviews. We used data from a systematic review of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in the characterization of suspected brain tumors to provide a preliminary evaluation of the inter-rater reliability of QUADAS.

Materials And Methods: A structured literature search identified 19 diagnostic accuracy studies.

Temporal lobe perfusion in the deaf: MR measurement with pulsed arterial spin labeling (FAIR).

Rationale And Objectives: Experimental studies in animals have shown that loss of a primary sensory modality early in life may result in substantial alterations in cortical organization. This study was performed to measure cerebral perfusion in auditory cortex in congenitally deaf adults using the FAIR (Flow-sensitive Alternating Inversion Recovery) magnetic resonance imaging technique. Our hypothesis was that there would be relatively intact perfusion in auditory cortex.

Bilateral Sudden Hearing Loss in Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia: MR Appearance.

A 46 year-old man with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome presented with sudden development of vertigo and tinnitus and then simultaneous, bilateral, profound, sudden hearing loss. Magnetic resonance imaging showed bilateral high signal within the cochlea, vestibule, and portions of the semicircular canals on the non-enhanced T1-weighted images, most consistent with recent hemorrhage into the otic labyrinth. Serum analysis and bone-marrow biopsy led to diagnosis of Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia - a likely cause of the presumed hemorrhage.