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van Veluw SJ, Arfanakis K, Schneider JA. Neuropathology of Vascular Brain Health: Insights From Ex Vivo Magnetic Resonance Imaging-Histopathology Studies in Cerebral Small Vessel Disease. Stroke 2022; 53:404-415. [PMID: 35000425 PMCID: PMC8830602 DOI: 10.1161/strokeaha.121.032608] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Sporadic cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is a major contributor to vascular cognitive impairment and dementia in the aging human brain. On neuropathology, sporadic SVD is characterized by abnormalities to the small vessels of the brain predominantly in the form of cerebral amyloid angiopathy and arteriolosclerosis. These pathologies frequently coexist with Alzheimer disease changes, such as plaques and tangles, in a single brain. Conversely, during life, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) only captures the larger manifestations of SVD in the form of parenchymal brain abnormalities. There appears to be a major knowledge gap regarding the underlying neuropathology of individual MRI-detectable SVD abnormalities. Ex vivo MRI in postmortem human brain tissue is a powerful tool to bridge this gap. This review summarizes current insights into the histopathologic correlations of MRI manifestations of SVD, their underlying cause, presumed pathophysiology, and associated secondary tissue injury. Moreover, we discuss the advantages and limitations of ex vivo MRI-guided histopathologic investigations and make recommendations for future studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susanne J. van Veluw
- J. Philip Kistler Stroke Research Center, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA,MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, MA, USA,Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Konstantinos Arfanakis
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, USA,Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Julie A. Schneider
- Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA,Departments of Pathology and Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago IL, USA
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Skoog I, Kern S, Zetterberg H, Östling S, Börjesson-Hanson A, Guo X, Blennow K. Low Cerebrospinal Fluid Aβ42 and Aβ40 are Related to White Matter Lesions in Cognitively Normal Elderly. J Alzheimers Dis 2019; 62:1877-1886. [PMID: 29614655 PMCID: PMC5900552 DOI: 10.3233/jad-170950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Background: Low cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of Aβ42 may be the earliest manifestation of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Knowledge on how CSF Aβ interacts with different brain pathologies early in the disease process is limited. We examined how CSF Aβ markers relate to brain atrophy and white matter lesions (WMLs) in octogenarians with and without dementia to explore the earliest pathogenetic pathways of AD in the oldest old. Objective: To study CSF amyloid biomarkers in relation to brain atrophy and WMLs in 85-year-olds with and without dementia. Methods: 53 octogenarians took part in neuropsychiatric examinations and underwent both a lumbar puncture and a brain CT scan. CSF levels of Aβ42 and Aβ40 were examined in relation to cerebral atrophy and WMLs. Dementia was diagnosed. Results: In 85-year-olds without dementia, lower levels of both CSF Aβ42 and CSF Aβ40 were associated with WMLs. CSF Aβ42 also correlated with measures of central atrophy, but not with cortical atrophy. In participants with dementia, lower CSF levels of Aβ42 were related to frontal, temporal, and parietal cortical atrophy but not to WMLs. Conclusions: Our findings may suggest that there is an interrelationship between Aβ and subcortical WMLs in older persons without dementia. After onset of dementia, low CSF Aβ42, probably representing amyloid deposition in plaques, is associated with cortical atrophy. WMLs may be an earlier manifestation of Aβ deposition than cortical degeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ingmar Skoog
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Neuropsychiatric Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Silke Kern
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Neuropsychiatric Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Henrik Zetterberg
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.,UCL Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, UK
| | - Svante Östling
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Neuropsychiatric Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Anne Börjesson-Hanson
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Neuropsychiatric Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Xinxin Guo
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Neuropsychiatric Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Kaj Blennow
- Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry, Clinical Neurochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
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Jellinger KA. The enigma of vascular cognitive disorder and vascular dementia. Acta Neuropathol 2007; 113:349-88. [PMID: 17285295 DOI: 10.1007/s00401-006-0185-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 166] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2006] [Revised: 12/08/2006] [Accepted: 12/08/2006] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
The prevalence, morphology and pathogenesis of vascular dementia (VaD), recently termed vascular cognitive impairment, are a matter of discussion, and currently used clinical diagnostic criteria show moderate sensitivity (average 50%) and variable specificity (range 64-98%). In Western clinic-based series, VaD is suggested in 8-10% of cognitively impaired aged subjects. Its prevalence in autopsy series varies from 0.03 to 58%, with reasonable values of 8-15%, while in Japan it is seen in 22-35%. Neuropathologic changes associated with cognitive impairment include multifocal and/or diffuse disease and focal lesions: multi-infarct encephalopathy, white matter lesions or arteriosclerotic subcortical (leuko)encephalopathy, multilacunar state, mixed cortico-subcortical type, borderline/watershed lesions, rare granular cortical atrophy, post-ischemic encephalopathy and hippocampal sclerosis. They result from systemic, cardiac and local large or small vessel disease. Recent data indicate that cognitive decline is commonly associated with widespread small ischemic/vascular lesions (microinfarcts, lacunes) throughout the brain with predominant involvement of subcortical and functionally important brain areas. Their pathogenesis is multifactorial, and their pathophysiology affects neuronal networks involved in cognition, memory, behavior and executive functioning. Vascular lesions often coexist with Alzheimer disease (AD) and other pathologies. Minor cerebrovascular lesions, except for severe amyloid angiopathy, appear not essential for cognitive decline in full-blown AD, while both mild Alzheimer pathology and small vessel disease may interact synergistically. The lesion pattern of "pure" VaD, related to arteriosclerosis and microangiopathies, differs from that in mixed-type dementia (AD with vascular encephalopathy), more often showing large infarcts, which suggests different pathogenesis of both types of lesions. Due to the high variability of cerebrovascular pathology and its causative factors, no validated neuropathologic criteria for VaD are available, and a large variability across laboratories still exists in the procedures for morphologic examination and histology techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kurt A Jellinger
- Institute of Clinical Neurobiology, Kenyongasse 18, 1070, Vienna, Austria.
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Bronge L, Bogdanovic N, Wahlund LO. Postmortem MRI and histopathology of white matter changes in Alzheimer brains. A quantitative, comparative study. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 2002; 13:205-12. [PMID: 12006730 DOI: 10.1159/000057698] [Citation(s) in RCA: 124] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
To evaluate whether magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of white matter changes in Alzheimer's disease either under- or overestimates the findings on neuropathology. Postmortem MRI and neuropathological examination were performed on 6 brains from elderly individuals with a postmortem diagnosis of AD. Using a specially designed brain slicer, the brains were cut corresponding to the MRI images, and stained by Luxol Fast Blue. Quantitative analysis of white matter changes on MRI and neuropathology was performed using stereological principles. Measures from MRI and pathology were highly correlated (r(2) = 0.71). However, pathology showed significantly more extensive changes than did MRI in all cases, with a mean of 54% larger areas. The lesions not identified with MRI represented, however, only minor changes with lower intensity of myelin staining and with an accentuation of the distance between fibres but with preserved axonal network and glial cell density.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lena Bronge
- Institutions of KARO, Department of Radiology, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden.
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Bronge L, Fernaeus SE, Blomberg M, Ingelson M, Lannfelt L, Isberg B, Wahlund LO. White matter lesions in Alzheimer patients are influenced by apolipoprotein E genotype. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 1999; 10:89-96. [PMID: 10026381 DOI: 10.1159/000017107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
To analyse the influence of apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype on the extent of white matter lesions (WMLs) in Alzheimer's disease (AD), we examined 60 AD patients with magnetic resonance imaging. The WMLs were rated visually in different brain regions. The patients with the APOE genotype sigma4/4 had more extensive WMLs in the deep white matter than patients with genotypes sigma3/3 and sigma3/4. There was a correlation with age for WMLs in the deep white matter in patients with the APOE sigma3/3 genotype. In patients carrying at least one sigma4 allele, the WMLs showed no age correlation. The results could imply that in APOE allele sigma4 carriers, the WMLs represent a pathological process related to the aetiology of the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Bronge
- Radiology, Division of Geriatric Medicine, Huddinge University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden.
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Abstract
A possible relation between cerebral white-matter injury and dementia was intuitively attributed by Alzheimer to changes affecting the small penetrating vessels that supply the cerebral white matter. Several observations support the view that white-matter changes detectable by neuroimaging may contribute to cognitive deficits in the elderly. But many questions concerning this matter remain partially answered. In this communication we review: (1) Selected anatomic features of the blood vessels supplying the white matter; (2) possible pathogenetic mechanisms responsible for the white-matter changes; (3) observations on humans and animals suggesting a causal relationship between ischemia/hypoxemia and white-matter injury; (4) epidemiologic studies linking white-matter abnormalities with cognitive disorders. We conclude that abnormalities in the small vessels caused by aging and arterial hypertension, or other processes (cerebral amyloid angiopathy, CADASIL) together with systemic circulatory disturbances, such as abrupt variations in blood pressure values or cardiac diseases, may be the substrate of selective white-matter injury. The damage is structurally characterized by incomplete infarction or selective cellular injury.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Pantoni
- Department of Neurological and Psychiatric Sciences, University of Florence, Italy
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Abstract
BACKGROUND Changes in the cerebral hemispheric white matter, detectable with increasing frequency by modern neuroimaging methods, are associated with aging and conceivably may contribute to the development of specific cognitive deficits. The pathogenesis of these cerebral white matter abnormalities (sometimes described as leukoaraiosis) is unknown. This review evaluates the available evidence in support of the hypothesis that the etiology of leukoaraiosis is related to a specific type of cerebral ischemia and highlights mechanisms by which ischemic injury to the brain may induce selected structural alterations limited to the cerebral white matter. SUMMARY OF REVIEW The review is based on the critical analysis of over 100 publications (most appearing in the last decade) dealing with the anatomy and physiology of the arterial circulation to the cerebral white matter and with the pathogenesis of leukoaraiosis. CONCLUSIONS A significant number of clues support the hypothesis that some types of leukoaraiosis may be the result of ischemic injury to the brain. Structural changes affecting the small intraparenchymal cerebral arteries and arterioles that are associated with aging and with stroke risk factors, altered cerebral blood flow autoregulation, and the conditions created by the unique arterial blood supply of the hemispheric white matter each seem to contribute to the development of leukoaraiosis. To the best of our ability to interpret current information, the type of ischemic injury that is most likely responsible for these white matter changes involves transient repeated events characterized by moderate drops in regional cerebral blood flow that induce an incomplete form of infarction. This hypothesis could be tested in appropriate experimental models.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Pantoni
- Department of Pathology (Neuropathology), Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Mich 48202, USA
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Tarvonen-Schröder S, Röyttä M, Räihä I, Kurki T, Rajala T, Sourander L. Clinical features of leuko-araiosis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1996; 60:431-6. [PMID: 8774411 PMCID: PMC1073899 DOI: 10.1136/jnnp.60.4.431] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To study the clinical features of leuko-araiosis. METHODS Age matched groups of patients with a CT finding of pure leukoaraiosis (n = 26) and a control group with a normal CT finding (n = 26) were formed (mean ages 78.6 (SD 3.3) v 76.5 (SD 4.6) years; NS). RESULTS Dementia, vascular dementia, central brain atrophy on CT, disability in activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living, urinary incontinence, gait disorder (assistance needed), personality change, and night time confusion were found to be more commonly present in leuko-araiosis positive patients than in controls, whereas focal neurological symptoms and signs were not associated with leuko-araiosis. The occurrences of heart failure and systolic hypotension-but not hypertension-were higher in the leuko-araiosis positive group than in the controls. Leuko-araiosis was also found to be related to a less sudden onset of symptoms and a lower Hachinski score than true brain infarction(s). CONCLUSIONS Leuko-araiosis on CT in these elderly patients seems to be a vascular disorder aetiologically different from brain infarction, with clinical manifestations of subtle onset and general disabling nature and no prominent focal neurological signs or symptoms.
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Tarvonen-Schröder S, Kurki T, Räihä I, Sourander L. Leukoaraiosis and cause of death: a five year follow up. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 1995; 58:586-9. [PMID: 7745408 PMCID: PMC1073491 DOI: 10.1136/jnnp.58.5.586] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
The causes of death of 127 patients, who had undergone CT examination of the brain in 1989, were investigated. The CT was re-evaluated. Twenty five patients were excluded because of pathological findings on CT other than leukoaraiosis (LA), infarction, or their combination or, because of a specific known aetiology for LA. Of the remaining 102 patients, 25 had pure LA, 18 had pure infarction, 37 had LA combined with infarction (cLA), and 22 had a normal CT. The mean time between the CT and death was 1.8 (SD 1.5) years. A vascular cause of death was clearly associated with LA and with the severity of LA. Patients with pure LA had a vascular cause of death as often as those with pure infarction and those with LA combined with infarction. These groups differed significantly from each other when comparing the occurrence of cerebrovascular, cardiovascular and other vascular causes of death. The results suggest that LA on CT is more likely to be associated with a cardiovascular cause of death, and pure infarction is more often associated with a cerebrovascular death.
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Scheltens P, Leys D, Barkhof F, Vermersch P, Steinling M, Weinstein HC, Pruvo JP, Petit H. [Contribution of morphological imaging in the diagnosis of dementia. I--Alzheimer disease]. Rev Med Interne 1994; 15:415-22. [PMID: 8059176 DOI: 10.1016/s0248-8663(05)81459-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
In patients with Alzheimer's disease, morphological neuroimaging techniques usually reveal signs of global cerebral atrophy which gradually worsen over time and depends on age and severity of the cognitive decline. Because of the lack of artifacts and of a more appropriate angle, magnetic resonance imaging scans may visualize a prominent atrophy of the medial temporal lobes, including hippocampal structures. Hippocampal atrophy is relatively specific of Alzheimer's disease before 65 and is related to the severity of memory disorders. White matter changes in patients without cerebrovascular risk factors are not more severe in patients with presenile Alzheimer's disease than in age-matched controls. They are, however, more severe in patients with senile onset than in age-matched controls. These findings suggest that white matter changes in patients with senile onset are consistent with a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Scheltens
- Afdeling Neurologie, Academisch Ziekenhuis der Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Pays-Bas, France
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Mortel KF, Pavol MA, Wood S, Meyer JS, Terayama Y, Rexer JL, Herod B. Prospective studies of cerebral perfusion and cognitive testing among elderly normal volunteers and patients with ischemic vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Angiology 1994; 45:171-80. [PMID: 8129197 DOI: 10.1177/000331979404500301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
To compare longitudinal changes of cerebral perfusion (CBF) and cognitive status in two common forms of dementia in the elderly, 42 patients with ischemic vascular dementia (IVD), 44 patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT), and 120 elderly normal volunteers were evaluated prospectively over a mean interval of 3.35 years. Subjects were at least age sixty, (mean age 71.1). Mean bihemispheric cerebral blood flow and cognitive test scores of control subjects were significantly higher than those of both demented groups at entry and remained so. After adjustment for initial CBF, course over time was similar for all groups. Group variability was similar for CBF but not for cognition. Both IVD and DAT patients were more variable than controls but similar to each other. Throughout, DAT patients showed greater cognitive impairments than IVD patients. Cognitive impairments stabilized among IVD patients treated by control of risk factors, antiplatelet or anticoagulant therapy but declined progressively among DAT patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- K F Mortel
- Cerebral Blood Flow Laboratory, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, Texas
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Scheltens P, Weinstein HC, Leys D. Neuro-imaging in the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. I. Computer tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Clin Neurol Neurosurg 1992; 94:277-89. [PMID: 1335854 DOI: 10.1016/0303-8467(92)90175-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- P Scheltens
- Department of Neurology, Free University Hospital, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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