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A 10-year longitudinal study of deep white matter lesions on magnetic resonance imaging

  • Diagnostic Neuroradiology
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Abstract

Purpose

Deep white matter lesions (DWMLs), T2 high-intensity areas in the subcortical white matter on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are a clinical phenotype of cerebral small vessel disease. Factors such as age and hypertension have been reported to significantly contribute to the presence and severity of DWMLs in cross-sectional studies. We herein report a 10-year longitudinal study on DWMLs in elderly Japanese subjects to reveal the clinical variables contributing to the progression of DWMLs.

Methods

A total of 469 Japanese subjects were invited to participate in the study. Of the participants at baseline, 259 subjects completed the revisit MRI study 10 years later. In those 259 subjects, we evaluated the correlation between the progression of DWMLs and clinical variables, such as the gender, age, and overt vascular risk factors. To clarify the role of hypertension, 200 subjects with grade 1 DWMLs at baseline were categorized into three groups according to their status of hypertension and its treatment.

Results

Of the 200 subjects with grade 1 DWMLs, 47 subjects (23.5%) showed progression of DWMLs (progression group). In the progression group, the percentage of subjects with hypertension and the systolic blood pressure values were higher than in the non-progression group. In addition, subjects ≥ 60 years old at baseline tended to show deterioration of DWMLs in the group with hypertension without antihypertensive treatment.

Conclusion

The results of this 10-year longitudinal study imply a positive correlation between long-standing hypertension and the progression of DWMLs.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the members of the Kyoto Industrial Health Association and the Department of Epidemiology for Community Health and Medicine and Neurology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine for their assistance.

Funding

This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for scientific research (B) from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, Culture and Technology of Japan (No. 14370143) and a Health and Labour Sciences Research Grant of Japan (H28-seishin-ippan-004)

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Matsushita Memorial Hospital, 5-55, Sotojima-cho, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka-fu, 570-8540, Japan

    Aiko Tamura

  2. Department of Neurology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465, Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto-fu, 602-8566, Japan

    Aiko Tamura, Yoichi Ohshima, Masaki Kondo, Nobuo Takezawa & Toshiki Mizuno

  3. Department of Epidemiology for Community Health and Medicine, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465, Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto-fu, 602-8566, Japan

    Nagato Kuriyama, Etsuko Ozaki, Isao Watanabe & Yoshiyuki Watanabe

  4. Department of Radiology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465, Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto-fu, 602-8566, Japan

    Kentaro Akazawa & Kei Yamada

  5. Department of Neurology, Kyoto Yamashiro General Medical Center, 1-27, Kizuekimae, Kizugawa-shi, Kyoto-fu, 619-0214, Japan

    Yoichi Ohshima

  6. Kyoto Industrial Health Association, 67, Kitatsuboi-cho, Nishinokyo, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto-fu, 604-8472, Japan

    Akihiro Takada & Kazuo Takeda

  7. Matsumotonaika Clinic, 61 Yonnotsubo-cho, Iwakuraminami, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto-fu, 606-0033, Japan

    Sanae Matsumoto

  8. Department of Mathematics and Statistics in Medical Sciences, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 1-5, Hanki-cho, Shimogamo, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto-fu, 606-0823, Japan

    Kengo Yoshii

  9. Department of Neurology, North Medical Center, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 481, Azaotokoyama, Yosano-cho, Yosa-gun, Kyoto-fu, 629-2261, Japan

    Masanori Nakagawa

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  1. Aiko Tamura
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  2. Nagato Kuriyama
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Correspondence to Toshiki Mizuno.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in the studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Tamura, A., Kuriyama, N., Akazawa, K. et al. A 10-year longitudinal study of deep white matter lesions on magnetic resonance imaging. Neuroradiology 63, 1599–1609 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00234-020-02626-2

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