Association of descending thoracic aortic plaque with brain atrophy and white matter hyperintensities: The Framingham Heart Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background and aims

Aortic atherosclerosis is an aggregate marker of vascular risk factor exposure and has been associated with intracranial atherosclerosis and stroke. We hypothesized that atherosclerosis of the descending aorta (DAo) could be a risk marker for brain aging and injury.

Methods

We evaluated 1527 participants (mean age 59.9 years, 53.5% women) in the Framingham Offspring cohort who underwent both aortic and brain MRI. Participants were free of clinical stroke, dementia, or other neurological illness at the time of axial MRI of the thoracic and abdominal DAo and subsequent brain MRI. We related the prevalence and burden of aortic plaque to total cerebral brain volume (TCBV) and white matter hyperintensity volume (WMHV). An additional analysis compared incidence

SUBMITTER: Aparicio HJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5617776 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature