Common carotid flow velocity is associated with cognition in older adults.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the relationship between carotid flow velocity and cognitive impairment in patients with mild-moderate (<50%) carotid artery disease.


METHODS
We studied 407 participants with available carotid ultrasound and cognitive measures. We related peak systolic velocity (PSV) and end diastolic velocity (EDV) of internal carotid artery (ICA) and common carotid artery (CCA) and intimal medial thickness (IMT) to Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE), Clock Draw Test (CDT), Activities of Daily Living Scale (ADL)and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).


RESULTS
EDV of CCA was significantly different in higher and lower MoCA (MMSE) groups. Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that lower EDV was significantly associated with lower MoCA (+0.459 per standard deviation (SD), p<0. 01 for the left; +0.539 per SD, p<0. 01 for the right) and CDT (odds ratio (OR) 0.093, p< 0.05 for the left; OR) 0.120, p<0. 01 for the right) scores. PSV of left CCA (-0.205 per SD, p<0.05) and IMT (+42.536 per SD, p< 0.001) were associated with ADL. PSV of right CCA was associated with MMSE (+0.081 per SD, p<0.001). No significant relationship between ICA flow velocity and cognitive performance was observed.


CONCLUSIONS
Our preliminary data show that common carotid artery flow velocity was associated with cognitive performance.
Department of Gerontology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
Guo-Xiang
GX
Fu
Ya
Y
Miao
Hong
H
Yan
Yuan
Y
Zhong
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000368:Aged; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity / Q000502:physiology; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002340:Carotid Artery Diseases / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018616:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Duplex / Q000379:methods