Cortical Microinfarcts On 3t Mri In Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy: Associations With Mri Burden And Cognitive Dysfunction

Background: Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) causes vascular cognitive impairment, possibly due to ischemic lesions that are caused by impaired cerebral blood flow. Cerebral microinfarcts (CMIs) are small ischemic lesions that are found in CAA patients at autopsy. Hypothesis: Cortical CMIs can be detected on in vivo 3T MR images in CAA and will correlate with markers of CAA-related vascular brain injury and cognitive function. Methods: We analysed data from CAA cases and neurologically healthy controls participating in the Functional Assessment of Vascular Reactivity (FAVR) study. All participants underwent a standardized clinical, neuropsychological and 3T MR assessment. Cortical CMIs were rated according to standardized criteria, by a single rater blinded to clinical information. Results: There were 36 CAA patients (mean age 73.0±9.0 years) and 22 healthy controls (69.0±8.3 years). Cortical CMIs were found in significantly more patients with CAA (50%) (median number: 1, range: 1-9) than in healthy cont...