The Effect of Hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus on White Matter Changes in MRI Brain: A Comparative Study between Patients with Alzheimer's Disease and an Age-matched Control Group.

Background: White matter hyperintensities (WMH) on MRI brain in the periventricular and deep white matter regions are commonly seen in older persons with normal cognition and in patients with AD.
Aims: To compare presence and severity of WMHs in patients with AD with that in a cognitively normal control group, and to evaluate effect of presence of Hypertension and Diabetes on WMHs in both groups.
Material and Methods: Thirty four patients with AD were serially recruited from Neurology and Psychiatry OPDs. An age and gender matched cohort of 24 persons with MMSE over 27/30 from the community acted as controls. Vascular risk factors, MMSE and MRI brain were assessed in all. Fezeka's and Pasquier grading of WMH and atrophy were done. Periventricular WMHs (PVWMH) and Deep WMH (DWMH) were assessed separately.
Results and Conclusions: Overall, Periventricular WMHs of grade 2 and over were seen in 19/34 patients, and in 7/24 controls (P value 0.044). Significantly higher grades of PVWMHs were seen in hypertensives as compared to nonhypertensives in the case group, and in women compared to men. In the control group, hypertension had no effect on severity of PVWMHs. Among both Diabetics and non-diabetics, no difference in PVWMHs was found between the case and control groups. DWMHs were, conversely, seen only in the control group. Overall, over a quarter of cognitively normal older persons had WM hyperintensities of grade 2 and over on MRI brain; 55% of AD patients had PVWMH of Gd 2 or over, and no DWMHs.
(© Journal of the Association of Physicians of India 2011.)