title: In vivo detection of cerebral cortical microinfarcts with high-resolution 7T MRI.
abstract: Cerebrovascular disease has an important role in cognitive decline and dementia. In this context, cerebral microinfarcts are attracting increasing attention, but these lesions could thus far not be detected in vivo. The aim of this study was to try to identify possible cortical microinfarcts on high-resolution 7T in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to perform a histopathologic validation study on similar appearing lesions on 7T ex vivo MRI of postmortem brain tissue. The study population consisted of 22 elderly subjects, who underwent 7T MRI. The fluid attenuated inversion recovery, T(2), and T(1) weighted scans of these subjects were examined for possible cortical microinfarcts. In the ex vivo MRI study, 15 formalin-fixed coronal brain slices of 6 subjects with Alzheimer and vascular pathology were examined and subjected to histopathologic verification. On the in vivo scans, 15 cortical lesions could be identified that were likely to be microinfarcts in 6 subjects. In the postmortem tissue, 6 similar appearing lesions were identified of which 5 were verified as cortical microinfarcts on histopathology. This study provides strong evidence that cortical microinfarcts can be detected in vivo, which will be of great value in further studies into the role of vascular disease in cognitive decline and dementia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands. s.j.veluw-2@umcutrecht.nl
authors.forename: Susanne J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: van Veluw
authors.forename: Jaco J M
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Zwanenburg
authors.forename: JooYeon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Engelen-Lee
authors.forename: Wim G M
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: Spliet
authors.forename: Jeroen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hendrikse
authors.forename: Peter R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Luijten
authors.forename: Geert Jan
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Biessels
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001344:Autopsy; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology*; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male