Severity of dilated virchow-robin spaces is associated with age, blood pressure, and MRI markers of small vessel disease: A population-based study
Stroke. 2010-09-23; 41(11): 2483-2490
DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.110.591586
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1. Stroke. 2010 Nov;41(11):2483-90. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.110.591586. Epub 2010 Sep
23.
Severity of dilated Virchow-Robin spaces is associated with age, blood pressure,
and MRI markers of small vessel disease: a population-based study.
Zhu YC(1), Tzourio C, Soumaré A, Mazoyer B, Dufouil C, Chabriat H.
Author information:
(1)INSERM Unit 708, Paris Cedex 13, France.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Little is known about the risk factors of dilated
Virchow-Robin spaces (dVRS) and their relation with other markers of brain small
vessel disease. We investigated both issues in a large population-based sample of
elderly individuals.
METHODS: Severity of dVRS was semiquantitatively graded in both white matter and
basal ganglia using high-resolution 3-dimensional MRI images taken from 1818
stroke- and dementia-free subjects enrolled in the Three-City Dijon MRI study.
Multinomial logistic regression models were used to model the association of
cardiovascular risk factors, APOE genotype, brain atrophy, and MRI markers of
small vessel disease with the degree of dVRS.
RESULTS: Severity of dVRS was found to be strongly associated with age in both
basal ganglia (degree 4 versus 1: OR, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.4 to 3.2) and white matter
(OR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.2 to 1.9). The proportion of hypertensive subjects increased
with the degrees of dVRS in both basal ganglia (P = 0.02) and white matter (P =
0.048). Men presented a higher risk of severe dVRS in basal ganglia than women,
particularly degree 4 (OR, 6.0; 95% CI, 1.8 to 19.8). The degree of dVRS was
associated with the volume of white matter hyperintensities and the prevalence of
lacunes, but not with brain atrophy.
CONCLUSIONS: In this large cohort study of elderly subjects, the degree of dVRS
appears independently associated with age, hypertension, volume of white matter
hyperintensities, and lacunar infarctions. dVRS should be considered as another
MRI marker of cerebral small vessel disease in the elderly with regional
variations in their severity.
DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.110.591586
PMID: 20864661 [Indexed for MEDLINE]