Affiliations: [a] The Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia Center, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, USA
| [b] Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, USA
| [c] National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Intramural Program, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| [d] Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA
Correspondence:
[*]
Correspondence to: Kevin J. Sullivan, PhD, MPH, 2500 North State Street, Jackson, MS 39216, USA. Tel.: +1 601 815 7759; E-mail: ksullivan3@umc.edu.
Abstract: At visit 3 (1993–1995) of the ARIC Study, 1.5T brain MRI was completed in 1,881 stroke-free participants (Mean age = 62.9±4.9, 50% Black). Cox regression examined associations between infarct group [infarct-free (referent; n = 1,611), smaller only (<3 mm; n = 50), larger only (≥3 mm but <20 mm; n = 185), both (n = 35)] and up to 25-year incident dementia (n = 539). Participants with both infarcts were over 2.5 times more likely to develop dementia [HR = 2.61; 95% CI = 1.44, 4.72]. Smaller only (HR = 1.22; 95% CI = 0.70, 2.13) and larger only (HR = 1.27; 95% CI = 0.92, 1.74) groups showed associations with wide confidence intervals, unsupported statistically. A late midlife infarct profile including smaller and larger infarcts may represent particular vulnerability to dementia risk.
