High Prevalence of Cerebral Microbleeds at 7Tesla MRI in Patients with Early Alzheimer's Disease

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Brundel, Manon^{a; *} | Heringa, Sophie M.^a | de Bresser, Jeroen^{a; b} | Koek, Huiberdina L.^c | Zwanenburg, Jaco J.M.^{b; d} | Kappelle, L. Jaap^a | Luijten, Peter R.^d | Biessels, Geert Jan^a

Affiliations: [a] Department of Neurology, Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands | [b] Image Sciences Institute, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands | [c] Department of Geriatrics, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands | [d] Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, the Netherlands

Correspondence: [*] Correspondence to: Manon Brundel, Department of Neurology G03.232, University Medical Center Utrecht, P.O. Box 85500, Heidelberglaan 100, 3508GA Utrecht, the Netherlands. Tel.: +31 887558258; Fax: +31 302542100; E-mail: M.Brundel-2@umcutrecht.nl.

Abstract: The prevalence of microbleeds on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) is lower than that of its presumed pathological correlate, cerebral amyloid angiopathy. We examined 18 patients with early AD or mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 18 non-demented controls with ultra-high field strength 7Tesla MRI, to assess if the actual prevalence of microbleeds could be higher than is currently reported. One or more microbleeds were visualized in 78% of the MCI/AD patients and in 44% of the controls (p = 0.04). 7Tesla MRI shows that presence of microbleeds may be the rule, rather than exception in patients with MCI/AD.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease, magnetic resonance imaging, mild cognitive impairment

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-2012-120364

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 259-263, 2012