title: Is there an association between cerebral microbleeds and leukoaraiosis?
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) are small dot-like lesions appearing as hyposignals on gradient echo (GRE) T2* magnetic resonance (MR) sequences, whereas the leukoaraiosis (LA) indicates the presence of patchy areas of hypersignal on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) MR sequences in the periventricular white matter. The purpose of this work was to evaluate the association between LA and CMBs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-five consecutive (men 55; median age 64 years) patients were retrospectively analyzed using a 1.5 T system; CMBs were studied using a T2*-weighted GRE sequence and classified as absent (grade 1), mild (grade 2; total number of microbleeds, 1-2), moderate (grade 3; total number of microbleeds, 3-10), and severe (grade 4; total number of microbleeds, >10). LA was assessed with FLAIR MR sequences and was graded based on the European Task Force on Age-Related White Matter Changes as follows: 1 (no lesions), 2 (focal lesions > 5 mm), 3 (early confluent lesions), and 4 (diffuse involvement of an entire brain region).
  
  
  RESULTS
  We considered 170 cerebral hemispheres. The prevalence of CMBs was 24.7% (42 of 170), whereas the prevalence of LA was 27.1% (46 of 170). A statistically significant correlation was observed between LA and CMBs (correlation rho = .495, P value = .001). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed an association between CMBs and cerebrovascular symptoms (P = .0023).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results of this study suggest an association between CMBs and LA. Moreover, we found that LA is associated with the presence of cerebrovascular symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria (A.O.U.), Monserrato (Cagliari), Italy. Electronic address: lucasaba@tiscali.it.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Saba
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York.
authors.forename: Eytan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Raz
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria (A.O.U.), Monserrato (Cagliari), Italy.
authors.forename: Pier P
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Bassareo
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, University la Sapienza, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: di Martino
authors.affiliation: Departments of Radiological Sciences, Oncology, and Pathology, University of Rome Sapienza-Polo Pontino, Latina, Italy.
authors.forename: Carlo Nicola
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: de Cecco
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria (A.O.U.), Monserrato (Cagliari), Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mercuro
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Second University of Naples, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grassi
authors.affiliation: Diagnostic and Monitoring Division, AtheroPoint™ LLC, Roseville, California; Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Idaho (Affl.), Idaho.
authors.forename: Jasjit S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Suri
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria (A.O.U.), Monserrato (Cagliari), Italy.
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piga
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D049292:Leukoaraiosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies
keywords: CMB; Cerebral microbleeds; MRI; imaging; leukoaraiosis