Ventricular volume and dementia progression in the Cardiovascular Health Study

Carmichael, Owen T.; Kuller, Lewis H.; Lopez, Oscar L.; Thompson, Paul M.; Dutton, Rebecca A.; Lu, Allen; Lee, Sharon E.; Lee, Jessica Y.; Aizenstein, Howard J.; Meltzer, Carolyn Cidis; Liu, Yanxi; Toga, Arthur W.; Becker, James T.

doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2006.01.006

« Previous Next »Neurobiology of Aging
Volume 28, Issue 3 , Pages 389-397, March 2007

Ventricular volume and dementia progression in the Cardiovascular Health Study

Owen T. Carmichael
- Neurology Department, University of California, Davis, Davis CA 95616, USA
- Corresponding author at: Neurology Department, University of California, Davis, Center For Neuroscience, 1544 Newton Court, Davis, CA, 95616, USA. Tel.: +1 412 908 0630; fax: +1 916 734 6525.
Lewis H. Kuller
- Department of Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA
Oscar L. Lopez
- Neurology Department, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
Paul M. Thompson
- Neurology Department, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
Rebecca A. Dutton
- Neurology Department, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
Allen Lu
- Neurology Department, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
Sharon E. Lee
- Neurology Department, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
Jessica Y. Lee
- Neurology Department, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
Howard J. Aizenstein
- Psychiatry Department, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
Carolyn Cidis Meltzer
- Neurology Department, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Psychiatry Department, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Departments of Radiology, Neurology, and Psychiatry, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Yanxi Liu
- The Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Radiology Department, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
Arthur W. Toga
- Neurology Department, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
James T. Becker
- Neurology Department, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Psychiatry Department, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Psychology Department, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA

Received 19 September 2005; received in revised form 28 December 2005; accepted 21 January 2006.

Abstract

Elevated cerebral ventricular volume may be associated with dementia risk and progression. A fully-automated technique that agreed highly with radiological readings was used to estimate lateral ventricle volume on MR scans done at baseline in 1997–99 of 377 subjects in the Cardiovascular Health Study (CHS) from the Pittsburgh Center. 327 subjects were normal or diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) at baseline and were evaluated 4 years later. Baseline ventricular volume was analyzed in multivariate models with age, gender, education level, presence and incidence of cerebral infarcts, and dementia category (normal, MCI, or dementia) at baseline and follow-up as fixed effects. Ventricular volume at baseline was significantly higher among subjects normal at baseline and demented 4 years later. Age, gender, education level, and dementia progression were significant factors affecting ventricular volume. Ventricular volume was higher in dementia compared to MCI, higher in MCI compared to controls, and higher in Possible-Alzheimer's-disease (AD) dementia compared to Probable-AD. Larger ventricles in healthy subjects may indicate susceptibility to, or progression of, dementia-related pathology.

Keywords: Dementia, Mild cognitive impairment, Magnetic resonance imaging, Lateral ventricles, Automated segmentation