Incidental findings on brain MRI of cognitively normal first-degree descendants of patients with Alzheimer's disease: A cross-sectional analysis from the ALFA (Alzheimer and Families) project

Brugulat-Serrat, A. ; Rojas, S. ; Bargalló, N. ; Conesa, G. ; Minguillón, C. ; Fauria, K. ; Gramunt, N. ; Molinuevo, J. L. ; Gispert, J. D.

Resumen: Objectives To describe the prevalence of brain MRI incidental findings (IF) in a cohort of cognitively normal first-degree descendants of patients with Alzheimer''s disease (AD). Design Cross-sectional observational study. Setting All scans were obtained with a 3.0 s€...T scanner. Scans were evaluated by a single neuroradiologist and IF recorded and categorised. The presence of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) was determined with the Fazekas scale and reported as relevant if =2. Participants 575 participants (45-75s €...years) underwent high-resolution structural brain MRI. Participants were cognitively normal and scored over the respective cut-off values in all the following neuropsychological tests: Mini-Mental State Examination (=26), Memory Impairment Screen (=6), Time Orientation Subtest of the Barcelona Test II (=68), verbal semantic fluency (naming animals =12). Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) had to be 0. Results 155 participants (27.0%) presented with at least one IF. Relevant WMH were present in 7.8% of the participants, and vascular abnormalities, cyst and brain volume loss in 10.7%, 3.1% and 6.9% of the study volunteers, respectively. Neoplastic brain findings were found in 2.4% of participants and within these, meningiomas were the most common (1.7%) and more frequently found in women. A positive correlation between increasing age and the presence of IF was found. Additionally, brain atrophy greater than that expected by age was significantly more prevalent in participants without a parental history of AD. Conclusions Brain MRIs of healthy middle-aged participants show a relatively high prevalence of IF even when study participants have been screened for subtle cognitive alterations. Most of our participants are first-degree descendants of patients with AD, and therefore these results are of special relevance for novel imaging studies in the context of AD prevention in cognitively healthy middle-aged participants. Trial registration number NCT02198586.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-013215

Año: 2017

Publicado en: BMJ open 7, 3 (2017), [10 pp.]
ISSN: 2044-6055

Factor impacto JCR: 2.413 (2017)

Categ. JCR: MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL rank: 43 / 154 = 0.279 (2017) - Q2 - T1

Factor impacto SCIMAGO: 1.372 - Medicine (miscellaneous) (Q1)

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/ISCIII/PI12-00326
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/RYC-2013-13054

Tipo y forma: Artículo (Versión definitiva)