Reduction in cerebral blood flow in areas appearing as white matter hyperintensities on magnetic resonance imaging

Brickman, Adam M.; Zahra, Amir; Muraskin, Jordan; Steffener, Jason; Holland, Christopher M.; Habeck, Christian; Borogovac, Ajna; Ramos, Marco A.; Brown, Truman R.; Asllani, Iris; Stern, Yaakov

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2008.11.006

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 172, Issue 2 , Pages 117-120, 15 May 2009

Reduction in cerebral blood flow in areas appearing as white matter hyperintensities on magnetic resonance imaging

Adam M. Brickman
- Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
- Corresponding author. Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's, Disease and the Aging Brain, Box 16, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, 630 West 168th Street, New York, NY 10032, United States. Tel.: +1 212 342 1348; fax: +1 212 342 1838.
Amir Zahra
- Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
Jordan Muraskin
- Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
Jason Steffener
- Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
Christopher M. Holland
- Center for Neurological Imaging, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, United States
Christian Habeck
- Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
Ajna Borogovac
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
Marco A. Ramos
- Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
Truman R. Brown
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
- Department of Radiology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
Iris Asllani
- Department of Radiology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States
Yaakov Stern
- Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY, United States

Received 1 July 2008; received in revised form 10 October 2008; accepted 13 November 2008.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine cerebral blood flow (CBF) as measured by arterial spin labeling (ASL) in tissue classified as white matter hyperintensities (WMH), normal appearing white matter, and grey matter. Seventeen healthy older adults received structural and ASL MRI. Cerebral blood flow was derived for three tissue types: WMH, normal appearing white matter, and grey matter. Cerebral blood flow was lower in WMH areas relative to normal appearing white matter, which in turn, was lower than grey matter. Regions with consistently lower CBF across individuals were more likely to appear as WMH. Results are consistent with an emerging literature linking diminished regional perfusion with the risk of developing WMH.

Keywords: White matter hyperintensities, Arterial spin labeling, MRI