@article {7466, title = {Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Measures Associated With Increased Risk of Covert Brain Infarction and Worsening Leukoaraiosis in Older Adults.}, journal = {Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol}, volume = {37}, year = {2017}, month = {2017 Aug}, pages = {1579-1586}, abstract = {

OBJECTIVE: In people without previous stroke, covert findings on serial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of incident brain infarcts and worsening leukoaraiosis are associated with increased risk for ischemic stroke and dementia. We evaluated whether various measures of blood pressure (BP) and heart rate are associated with these MRI findings.

APPROACH AND RESULTS: In the CHS (Cardiovascular Health Study), a longitudinal cohort study of older adults, we used relative risk regression to assess the associations of mean, variability, and trend in systolic BP, diastolic BP, and heart rate measured at 4 annual clinic visits between 2 brain MRIs with incident covert brain infarction and worsening white matter grade (using a 10-point scale to characterize leukoaraiosis). We included participants who had both brain MRIs, no stroke before the follow-up MRI, and no change in antihypertensive medication status during follow-up. Among 878 eligible participants, incident covert brain infarction occurred in 15\% and worsening white matter grade in 27\%. Mean systolic BP was associated with increased risk for incident covert brain infarction (relative risk per 10 mm Hg, 1.28; 95\% confidence interval, 1.12-1.47), and mean diastolic BP was associated with increased risk for worsening white matter grade (relative risk per 10 mm Hg, 1.45; 95\% confidence interval, 1.24-1.69). These findings persisted in secondary and sensitivity analyses.

CONCLUSIONS: Elevated mean systolic BP is associated with increased risk for covert brain infarction, and elevated mean diastolic BP is associated with increased risk for worsening leukoaraiosis. These findings reinforce the importance of hypertension in the development of silent cerebrovascular diseases, but the pathophysiologic relationships to BP for each may differ.

}, keywords = {Age Factors, Aged, Antihypertensive Agents, Blood Pressure, Cerebral Infarction, Disease Progression, Female, Heart Rate, Humans, Hypertension, Incidence, Leukoaraiosis, Longitudinal Studies, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Prospective Studies, Pulsatile Flow, Risk Factors, Time Factors, United States}, issn = {1524-4636}, doi = {10.1161/ATVBAHA.117.309298}, author = {Leung, Lester Y and Bartz, Traci M and Rice, Kenneth and Floyd, James and Psaty, Bruce and Gutierrez, Jose and Longstreth, W T and Mukamal, Kenneth J} } @article {9616, title = {Trajectory of Cognitive Function After Incident Heart Failure.}, journal = {medRxiv}, year = {2024}, month = {2024 Feb 11}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: The size/magnitude of cognitive changes after incident heart failure (HF) are unclear. We assessed whether incident HF is associated with changes in cognitive function after accounting for pre-HF cognitive trajectories and known determinants of cognition.

METHODS: This pooled cohort study included adults without HF, stroke, or dementia from six US population-based cohort studies from 1971-2019: Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study, Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study, Cardiovascular Health Study, Framingham Offspring Study, Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, and Northern Manhattan Study. Linear mixed-effects models estimated changes in cognition at the time of HF (change in the intercept) and the rate of cognitive change over the years after HF (change in the slope), controlling for pre-HF cognitive trajectories and participant factors. Change in global cognition was the primary outcome. Change in executive function and memory were secondary outcomes. Cognitive outcomes were standardized to a -score metric (mean [SD], 50 [10]); a 1-point difference represented a 0.1-SD difference in cognition.

RESULTS: The study included 29,614 adults (mean [SD] age was 61.1 [10.5] years, 55\% female, 70.3\% White, 22.2\% Black 7.5\% Hispanic). During a median follow-up of 6.6 (Q1-Q3: 5-19.8) years, 1,407 (4.7\%) adults developed incident HF. Incident HF was associated with an acute decrease in global cognition (-1.08 points; 95\% CI -1.36, -0.80) and executive function (-0.65 points; 95\% CI -0.96, -0.34) but not memory (-0.51 points; 95\% CI -1.37, 0.35) at the time of the event. Greater acute decreases in global cognition after HF were seen in those with older age, female sex and White race. Individuals with incident HF, compared to HF-free individuals, demonstrated faster declines in global cognition (-0.15 points per year; 95\% CI, -0.21, -0.09) and executive function (-0.16 points per year; 95\% CI -0.23, -0.09) but not memory ( -0.11 points per year; 95\% CI -0.26, 0.04) compared with pre-HF slopes.

CONCLUSIONS: In this pooled cohort study, incident HF was associated with an acute decrease in global cognition and executive function at the time of the event and faster declines in global cognition and executive function over the following years.

}, doi = {10.1101/2024.02.09.24302608}, author = {Shore, Supriya and Li, Hanyu and Zhang, Min and Whitney, Rachael and Gross, Alden L and Bhatt, Ankeet S and Nallamothu, Brahmajee K and Giordani, Bruno and Brice{\~n}o, Emily M and Sussman, Jeremy B and Gutierrez, Jose and Yaffe, Kristine and Griswold, Michael and Johansen, Michelle C and Lopez, Oscar L and Gottesman, Rebecca F and Sidney, Stephen and Heckbert, Susan R and Rundek, Tatjana and Hughes, Timothy M and Longstreth, William T and Levine, Deborah A} }