Prevalence of CT-detected cerebral abnormalities in an elderly Swedish population sample.
OBJECTIVE
To measure the prevalence of computed tomography (CT)-detected cerebral lesions in a population-based sample of elderly persons living in Göteborg, Sweden.


METHODS
Cerebral CT-scans were performed in the case of 466 women (mean age 74.3 +/- 5.1 years) and 191 70-year-old men. A single rater assessed white matter lesions (WML) using four different scales, lacunar lesions, large infarcts, cortical atrophy, and basal ganglia calcifications.


RESULTS
White matter lesions frequency assessed by different scales ranged between 54.5% and 68.5%. Lacunar lesions were detected in 46.7% (30.1% had lacunes >5 mm) and cerebral infarcts in 3.0% of participants. Overall, 72.8% of participants evidenced cerebral vascular abnormalities. Severe cortical atrophy was more common in temporal (6.4%) and frontal (6.7%) lobes, than in parietal (1.7%) and occipital (1.1%) lobes. Basal ganglia calcifications were found in 38.7% of participants. WML, lacunar lesions, large infarcts, and degree of cortical atrophy correlated positively with age. More lacunes, basal ganglia calcifications, and occipital lobe atrophy were associated with male gender.


CONCLUSIONS
Vascular and other brain lesions are very common on CT-scan in an elderly population, but large vascular lesions are rare. This study provides the first reference for the prevalence of CT-detected abnormalities in an elderly Swedish population.
Simoni
M
M
Department of Neurological and Psychiatric Sciences, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
Pantoni
L
L
Pracucci
G
G
Palmertz
B
B
Guo
X
X
Gustafson
D
D
Skoog
I
I
D000368:Aged; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D013548:Sweden; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed