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Left atrial (LA) diameter is easily attainable from echocardiograph and sensitive to underlying cardiovascular disease severity, although its association with neurocognitive outcomes is not well understood. Fifty older adults (64.50 ± 9.41 years), recruited from outpatient cardiology clinics and local papers who underwent magnetic resonance imaging, were administered the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS), and completed psychosocial self-report measures. LA diameter was quantified using echocardiogram. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that greater LA size was independently associated with reduced performance on the following RBANS composites: language, delayed memory, and total index (p0.05 for all). Hierarchical regression analysis demonstrated no significant association between LA diameter and whole brain volume (p0.05). The current study suggests that greater LA size is associated with cognitive dysfunction in older adults and prospective studies are needed to validate these findings and elucidate underlying mechanisms.

Past studies link elevated blood pressure (BP) and BP variability to adverse neurocognitive changes in community samples. However, little is known about the relationship between BP indices and cognitive function in older CVD patients.A total of 99 older adults with CVD completed a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery. Resting BP measurements were collected every 10 min for 2 hr during a separate cardiac assessment. Five BP indices were generated: average and standard deviation of systolic blood pressure (SBP), average and standard deviation of diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and a function of systolic variability and average diastolic pressure. We examined the relationship between these BP indices and cognitive function.Partial correlation adjusting for age and education revealed that the function of systolic variability and average diastolic pressure (SBP standard deviation divided by the average DBP) was most closely related to test performance, showing significant associations to both Learning/Memory (r = 0.25) and Language functioning (r = 0.22). SBP indices were also related to Language functioning (SBP avg., r = 0.22; SBP SD, r = 0.25), though DBP indices were unrelated to performance in any cognitive domain.The current findings indicate that BP is modestly related to cognitive function in older CVD patients. Contrary to expectations, greater BP variability was associated with better, not poorer, cognitive test performance. Such findings suggest that the relationship between BP and cognitive function is more complicated than typically believed and requires further examination.

This study examines the relationship between systemic vascular function, neurocognitive performance, and structural brain abnormalities on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) among geriatric outpatients with treated, stable cardiovascular disease and no history of neurological illness (n = 88, ages 56-85 years). Vascular function was assessed by cardiac ejection fraction and output, sequential systolic and diastolic blood pressures, flow mediated brachial artery reactivity (BAR), and carotid intima media thickness (IMT). White matter hyperintensities (WMH) on MRI were quantified and examined relative to cognitive and vascular function. Principal component analysis revealed two primary vascular components: one associated with cardiac function, the other with atherosclerotic burden/endothelial dysfunction. Both factors were significantly associated with cognitive function and WMH volume. Reduced systolic variability and increased IMT were most strongly related to reduced attention, executive function, and information-processing speed. These findings suggest the possibility that systemic vascular indices may provide proxy measures of cerebrovascular dysfunction and reinforce the importance of achieving greater understanding of interaction between systemic vascular disease and brain dysfunction among elderly people with cardiovascular disease.

The present study examined the relationship between multiple blood pressure (BP) indices and white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in a sample of 39 older adults with cardiovascular disease (CVD). Resting BP was measured using an automated monitor every 10 min for 2 h. WMH were quantified on FLAIR images and separate indices were generated for neocortical, periventricular and subcortical brain regions. Correlation analyses revealed systolic BP variability was related to neocortical and total WMH. A function of systolic BP variability and average diastolic pressure showed the strongest relationships, including significant correlation to neocortical, subcortical and total WMH. No BP index was related to WMH in periventricular regions. Exploratory analyses showed only the function of systolic BP variability and average diastolic pressure predicted total WMH, whereas as age, CVD conditions and psychosocial factors did not. These findings demonstrate BP variability is an important contributor to WMH in older adults with CVD and suggests it may have differential relationships to WMH in different brain regions. Additional studies are needed to examine the role of autoregulatory systems in the development of WMH, particularly those using beat-to-beat measures of BP.