Susceptibility-weighted imaging and transcranial Doppler ultrasound in patients with cerebral small vessel disease

Abstract

Introduction Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is a common accompaniment to aging. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of SVD include lacunar infarcts (LI) and white matter hyperintensity (WMH). Brain iron deposition is also a known marker of SVD that is associated with cognitive impairment and can be detected with susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) MRI technique. According to recent studies, the pulsation of cerebral blood flow can be one of the main factors of the development of pathological brain changes in elderly patients. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship between the brain iron deposition, cerebral blood flow pulsation, and cognitive impairment in patients with SVD. Materials and methods For the study, 97 patients with diagnosed SVD were selected. The patients were divided into two groups based on the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test scores. All patients underwent MRI in the SWI sequence. Pulsatility index (PI) and resistivity index (RI) were recorded from the middle cerebral artery bilaterally using transcranial Doppler (TCD). Results The linear regression model showed that the pulsatility index (PI) and resistivity index (RI) were associated with cognitive impairment and brain iron deposition in basal ganglia. The most significant association was found between left globus pallidus severe hypointensity voxels count and left middle cerebral artery (MCA) RI (p = 0.009). Conclusion The results of the study provide information that TCD indicators may be associated with brain iron deposition and cognitive decline in patients with SVD. Our findings suggest that both brain iron deposition and cerebral hemodynamics abnormalities may play an important role in the pathophysiological mechanisms of SVD.