Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction is associated with cerebral white matter lesions (leukoaraiosis) in elderly patients without ischemic heart disease and stroke.

Aim: Cerebral white matter lesions (WML) are known to increase with age, as is left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction with normal contraction. Although aging is a common risk factor, the link between these diseases is not fully understood. The aim was to clarify this relationship, using the ratio between early diastolic mitral inflow and early diastolic mitral annular tissue velocity (E/E'). E/E' measured by tissue Doppler echocardiography offers an indicator of the severity of LV diastolic dysfunction, reflecting both diastolic LV stiffness and diastolic LV filling pressure.

Methods: Participants comprised 75 patients aged between 65 and 75 years with normal LV contraction and no signs or history of symptomatic heart failure, ischemic heart diseases, atrial fibrillation, stroke, or cognitive dysfunction. The volume of WML was quantified on brain magnetic resonance imaging.

Results: The participants were classified into three groups: Low E/E', E/E' ≤ 8; Middle E/E', 8 < E/E' < 15; and High E/E', E/E' ≥ 15. WML volume was 3.6 ± 3.0 mL in Low E/E', 5.4 ± 6.5 mL in Middle E/E' and 12.0 ± 11.0 mL in High E/E', increasing significantly with increased diastolic LV stiffness (Low vs High, P = 0.034; Middle vs High, P = 0.016). Linear regression analysis showed the positive association between the volume of WML and E/E' ratio (r = 0.377, P = 0.0009).

Conclusions: This investigation identified an association between LV diastolic dysfunction and WML. Further investigations are required to clarify whether there is a direct association between the two diseases.