Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Sep;14(9):e3521.
doi: 10.1002/brb3.3521.

Effects of intracranial artery stenosis of anterior circulation on cognition-A CT perfusion-based study

Shanshan Yin  1   2 , Ying Zhang  1   2 , Baogen Du  1   2 , Shanshan Cao  1   2 , Kai Wang  1   2   3   4   5 , Qiang Wei  1   2   3
Affiliations

Effects of intracranial artery stenosis of anterior circulation on cognition-A CT perfusion-based study

Shanshan Yin et al. Brain Behav. 2024 Sep.

Abstract

Background: Intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (ICAS) is one of the most important independent risk factors for stroke that is closely related to the occurrence of cognitive impairment. The relationship between ICAS and vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) remains unclear. Cerebral hemodynamic changes are one of the main causes of cognitive impairment. Computed tomographic perfusion (CTP) imaging can quantitatively analyze cerebral blood perfusion and quantify cerebral hemodynamic changes. Previous research on the relationship between hypoperfusion induced by ICAS and cognitive impairment, as well as its underlying mechanisms, remains relatively insufficient. This study is dedicated to elucidating the characteristics and potential mechanisms of cognitive impairment in ICAS patients with abnormal perfusion, utilizing CTP imaging as our primary investigative tool.

Methods: This study recruited 82 patients who suffer from non-disabling ischemic stroke (IS group) and 28 healthy controls. All participants underwent comprehensive neuropsychological assessments both collectively and individually, in addition to CTP imaging. Within the patient group, we further categorized individuals into two subgroups: the ischemic penumbra group (IP, N = 28) and the benign oligemia group (BO, N = 54), based on CTP parameters-Tmax. The correlations between cognitive function and abnormal perfusion were explored.

Results: The cognitive function, including the overall cognitive, memory, attention, executive functions, and language, was significantly impaired in the IS group compared with that in the control group. Further, there are statistical differences in the stroop color-word test-dot (Stroop-D) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) sub-items (memory + language) between the BO and IP groups. In the BO group, the score of Stroop-D is lower, and the MoCA sub-items are higher than the IP group. There is no correlation between CTP parameters and cognitive function.

Conclusion: Cognitive function is significantly impaired in patients with ICAS, which is related to cerebral perfusion. Executive, memory, and language function were better preserved in ICAS patients without IP. Hence, this study posits that managing hypoperfusion induced by ICAS may play a pivotal role in the development of VCI.

Keywords: CT perfusion; benign oligemia; cerebral blood flow; cognitive impairment; intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis; ischemic penumbra.

PubMed Disclaimer

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
Cognitive function assessments (a–d) in patients with intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (ICAS). HC, healthy control group; BO, benign oligemia group; IP, ischemic penumbra group. *Significant at 0.05 level (two‐tailed), **significant at 0.01 level (two‐tailed), ***significant at 0.001 level (two‐tailed).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Arundine, M. , & Tymianski, M. (2003). Molecular mechanisms of calcium‐dependent neurodegeneration in excitotoxicity. Cell Calcium, 34(4–5), 325–337. 10.1016/S0143-4160(03)00141-6 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bivard, A. , Levi, C. , Spratt, N. , & Parsons, M. (2013). Perfusion CT in acute stroke: A comprehensive analysis of infarct and penumbra. Radiology, 267(2), 543–550. 10.1148/radiol.12120971 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Bivard, A. , Spratt, N. , Levi, C. , & Parsons, M. (2011). Perfusion computer tomography: Imaging and clinical validation in acute ischaemic stroke. Brain, 134(Part 11), 3408–3416. 10.1093/brain/awr257 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Campbell, B. C. V. , Mitchell, P. J. , Kleinig, T. J. , Dewey, H. M. , Churilov, L. , Yassi, N. , Yan, B. , Dowling, R. J. , Parsons, M. W. , Oxley, T. J. , Wu, T. Y. , Brooks, M. , Simpson, M. A. , Miteff, F. , Levi, C. R. , Krause, M. , Harrington, T. J. , Faulder, K. C. , Steinfort, B. S. , … Davis, S. M. (2015). Endovascular therapy for ischemic stroke with perfusion‐imaging selection. New England Journal of Medicine, 372(11), 1009–1018. 10.1056/NEJMoa1414792 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Campbell, B. C. V. , Yassi, N. , Ma, H. , Sharma, G. , Salinas, S. , Churilov, L. , Meretoja, A. , Parsons, M. W. , Desmond, P. M. , Lansberg, M. G. , Donnan, G. A. , & Davis, S. M. (2015). Imaging selection in ischemic stroke: Feasibility of automated CT‐perfusion analysis. International Journal of Stroke, 10(1), 51–54. 10.1111/ijs.12381 - DOI - PubMed

MeSH terms