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Review
. 2021 Mar 3;77(3):751-758.
doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.120.15242. Epub 2021 Feb 10.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Childhood Primary Hypertension: Potential in the Study of Cognitive Outcomes

Md Nasir Uddin  1 , Madalina Tivarus  2   3 , Heather Adams  1   4 , Erika Little  4 , Giovanni Schifitto  1   2 , Marc B Lande  4
Affiliations
Review

Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Childhood Primary Hypertension: Potential in the Study of Cognitive Outcomes

Md Nasir Uddin et al. Hypertension. .

Abstract

Primary hypertension in youth and young adulthood is associated with decreased neurocognitive test performance both in midlife and during youth itself, leading to concern of subsequent cognitive decline and dementia in later life. The early vascular effects of hypertension in youth are likely involved in the pathogenesis of hypertensive target organ damage to the brain, but the potential impact of antihypertensive treatment from youth on subsequent cognitive health is not known. This review will highlight the need to answer the question of whether treatment of hypertension from early in life would slow cognitive decline in adulthood, and will then outline, for the nonneurologist, magnetic resonance imaging techniques potentially useful in the study of the pathogenesis of decreased cognition in hypertensive youth and for use as potential biomarkers for early antihypertensive treatment interventions.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest:

None

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Anatomical MRI images (axial view) from a participant with cerebral small vessel disease. T1-weighted (T1w) and T2-weighted (T2w) and FLAIR demonstrate the different appearance of lesions (arrows).
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) metrics: FA, fractional anisotropy; AD, axial diffusivity; RD, radial diffusivity; MD, mean diffusivity.
Figure 3:
Figure 3:
Neurite Orientation Dispersion and Density Imaging (NODDI) metrics: ICVF, intracellular volume fraction; ISO, isotropic volume fraction; ODI, orientation dispersion index.
Figure 4:
Figure 4:
Whole brain tractography reconstructed from diffusion weighted images (DWI).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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