Progression of White Matter Hyperintensities Preceded by Heterogeneous Decline of Microstructural Integrity [Clinical Sciences]

Conclusions—Impaired microstructural integrity preceded conversion into WMH and continuously declined over time, suggesting a continuous disease process of white matter integrity loss that can be detected using diffusion tensor imaging even years before WMH become visible on conventional neuroimaging. Differences in microstructural integrity between participants with mild versus severe WMH suggest heterogeneity of both NAWM and WMH, which might explain the clinical variability observed in patients with similar small vessel disease severity.

Source: Stroke - May 25, 2018 Category: Neurology Authors: Esther M.C. van Leijsen, Mayra I. Bergkamp, Ingeborg W.M. van Uden, Mohsen Ghafoorian, Helena M. van der Holst, David G. Norris, Bram Platel, Anil M. Tuladhar, Frank-Erik de Leeuw Tags: Etiology, Cardiovascular Disease, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Cerebrovascular Disease/Stroke, Vascular Disease Original Contributions Source Type: research