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. 2020 Dec 1:12:597799.
doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2020.597799. eCollection 2020.

New Insights in Addressing Cerebral Small Vessel Disease: Association With the Deep Medullary Veins

Zhihua Xu  1   2 , Fangfei Li  2   3 , Bing Wang  4 , Dengxiang Xing  5 , Yusong Pei  6 , Benqiang Yang  7 , Yang Duan  2   3   6   8
Affiliations

New Insights in Addressing Cerebral Small Vessel Disease: Association With the Deep Medullary Veins

Zhihua Xu et al. Front Aging Neurosci. .

Abstract

Objective: To assess the suitability of deep medullary vein visibility in susceptibility weighted imaging-magnetic resonance imaging studies as a method for the diagnosis and evaluation of cerebral small vessel disease progression.

Methods: A total of 92 patients with CSVD were enrolled and baseline clinical and imaging data were reviewed retrospectively. Neuroimaging biomarkers of CSVD including high-grade white matter hyperintensity (HWMH), cerebral microbleed (CMB), enlarged perivascular space (PVS), and lacunar infarct (LI) were identified and CSVD burden was calculated. Cases were grouped accordingly as mild, moderate, or severe. The DMV was divided into six segments according to the regional anatomy. The total DMV score (0-18) was calculated as the sum of the six individual segmental scores, which ranged from 0 to 3, for a semi-quantitative assessment of the DMV based on segmental continuity and visibility.

Results: The DMV score was independently associated with the presence of HWMH, PVS, and LI (P < 0.05), but not with presence and absence of CMB (P > 0.05). Correlation between the DMV score and the CSVD burden was significant (P < 0.05) [OR 95% C.I., 1.227 (1.096-1.388)].

Conclusion: The DMV score was associated with the presence and severity of CSVD.

Keywords: cerebral microbleed; cerebral small vessel disease; deep medullary vein; lacunar infarct; perivascular space; white matter hyperintensity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Flowchart of enrollment of study patients.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Deep medullary veins scoring system. (A,E) A score of 0 is assigned for each continuous and prominently visible vein. (B,F) A score of 1 indicates that the vein is continuous and with unequivocal visibility, but at least one vein has inhomogeneous signal. (C,G) A score of 2 indicates that at least one vein is not continuous and with faint visibility, presenting with spot-like hypointensity. (D,H) A score of 3 is assigned if the DMV is not visible.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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