@article {909, title = {Acceleration of cerebral ventricular expansion in the Cardiovascular Health Study.}, journal = {Neurobiol Aging}, volume = {28}, year = {2007}, month = {2007 Sep}, pages = {1316-21}, abstract = {

Interactions between prevalent late-life medical conditions and expansion of the cerebral ventricles are not well understood. Thirty elderly subjects received three magnetic resonance (MR) scans each, in 1997-1999, 2002-2004, and 2003-2005. A linear expansion model of MR-measured lateral ventricle volume was estimated for each subject by fitting a line to a plot of their 1997-1999 and 2002-2004 volumes as a function of time. Acceleration in ventricular expansion was defined as the deviation between the 2003-2005 volumes measured from MR and the 2003-2005 volumes predicted by the linear expansion model. Ventricular acceleration was analyzed in a multivariate model with age, race, history of heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension as fixed effects. Ventricular acceleration was significantly higher in non-whites, diabetics, and those without heart disease (p<0.05). Ventricular acceleration was higher in subjects with a history of hypertension, but the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.08). Acceleration of ventricular expansion in the elderly may be related to demographic and cardiovascular factors.

}, keywords = {Aged, Analysis of Variance, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cerebral Ventricles, Female, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Reference Values, Retrospective Studies, Sex Factors, Time Factors}, issn = {1558-1497}, doi = {10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2006.06.016}, author = {Carmichael, Owen T and Kuller, L H and Lopez, O L and Thompson, P M and Dutton, R A and Lu, A and Lee, S E and Lee, J Y and Aizenstein, H J and Meltzer, C C and Liu, Y and Toga, A W and Becker, J T} } @article {1005, title = {Abnormal regional cerebral blood flow in cognitively normal elderly subjects with hypertension.}, journal = {Stroke}, volume = {39}, year = {2008}, month = {2008 Feb}, pages = {349-54}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in normal cognitive-performing subjects with hypertension (HTN) using continuous arterial spin-labeled MRI. The most common explanation for the effect of blood pressure on cognition is that HTN increases the risk of cerebrovascular disease, and it may increase the risk for Alzheimer disease possibly through small vessel disease, ischemia, oxidative stress, and inflammation. However, few studies to date have examined the rCBF of cognitively normal subjects with HTN in population-based cohorts, and none have used continuous arterial spin-labeled MRI. This is a noninvasive technique that does not require either injections or ionizing radiation and can measure absolute rCBF rates over the entire brain.

METHODS: rCBF was measured at 1.5 T using continuous arterial spin-labeled MRI in 41 cognitively normal subjects who were participating in the Cardiovascular Health Study Cognition Study. A deformable atrophy-corrected registration method was used to warp the rCBF maps to the standard colin27 brain space. Image and cluster-based statistical analyses were performed between subject groups.

RESULTS: Cognitively normal subjects with HTN (n=19) had decreased rCBF in the putamen, globus pallidus, bilaterally, and in the left hippocampus compared with normotensives (n=22). In addition, decreased rCBF was observed in the right and left anterior cingulate gyrus with extension to the subcallosal region, left posterior cingulate gyrus and medial precuneus, left lateral inferior and superior frontal, and inferior parietal, left orbitofrontal, and left superior temporal cortices.

CONCLUSIONS: rCBF is affected in normal subjects with HTN, not only in the subcortical regions, but also in limbic and paralimbic structures. We hypothesize that the HTN creates a vulnerability state for the development of neurodegenerative disorders, especially Alzheimer disease.

}, keywords = {Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cerebral Cortex, Cerebrovascular Circulation, Cognition, Cognition Disorders, Female, Globus Pallidus, Gyrus Cinguli, Humans, Hypertension, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Putamen, Spin Labels}, issn = {1524-4628}, doi = {10.1161/STROKEAHA.107.495457}, author = {Dai, Weiying and Lopez, Oscar L and Carmichael, Owen T and Becker, James T and Kuller, Lewis H and Gach, H Michael} }