Quantitative susceptibility mapping assessment of iron deposition in gray matter nuclei and the correlation with cognitive function in cerebral small vessel disease
Objective To evaluate iron deposition in gray matter nuclei in patients with cerebral small vessel disease(CSVD)based on quantitative susceptibility mapping(QSM)and to analyze its correlation with cognitive function.Methods Patients with CSVD attending the outpatient clinic in the Department of Neurology at Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University from December 2016 to November 2022,and healthy controls recruited from previous studies in the Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at Xuanwu Hospital of Capital Medical University from September 2022 to November 2022 were retrospectively consecutively collected.Baseline data of CSVD patients and healthy controls was collected and compared,including age,sex,past history(hypertension,diabetes,hyperlipidemia),smoking history,alcohol consumption history and Montreal cognitive assessment(MoCA)scale score.MRI of all CSVD patients and healthy controls were collected,including three-dimensional T1 weighted imaging,QSM,T2 weighted imaging,and fluid attenuated inversion recovery(FLAIR)sequence imaging.According to the MRI-related imaging features and CSVD total burden score,the patients were divided into mild CSVD(CSVD-m)group and severe CSVD(CSVD-s)group,and healthy controls were the control group.QSM was used to obtain the susceptibility values of gray matter nuclei for all CSVD patients and controls.One-way covariance analysis and Bonferroni correction were used to compare the gray matter nuclei susceptibility values among the three groups.Spearman correlation analysis was performed between susceptibility values of gray matter nuclei with statistically significant differences in susceptibility values and cognitive function.Results A total of 61 cases of CSVD patients were included,including 29 cases in the CSVD-s group and 32 cases in the CSVD-m group;32 healthy controls were included in the control group.(1)There was no statistically significant difference in age,sex,hypertension,diabetes,hyperlipidemia,smoking,and alcohol consumption between the CSVD-s group,CSVD-m group and control group(all P>0.05).The MoCA scale scores of the CSVD-s group and CSVD-m group were lower than those of the control group(25.0[22.5,27.5]points,27.0[25.0,29.0]points than 28.0[27.0,29.0]points,H=15.006,P<0.01).The difference in the imaging features distribution of cerebral microbleeds,white matter hyperintensity,and perivascular space among the CSVD-s group and the CSVD-m group was statistically significant(all P<0.05).(2)The differences in susceptibility values of the left putamen(F=4.790),pallidus(F=12.896),hippocampus(F=3.904)and the right putamen(F=36.278),pallidus(F=39.449),caudate nucleus(F=6.797),and thalamus(F=6.525)were statistically significant among the three groups(all P<0.05).After Bonferroni correction,the susceptibility values of the left putamen and pallidus and the right putamen,pallidus,caudate nucleus,and thalamus in the CSVD-s group were higher than those of the control group(all P<0.05);the susceptibility values of the left pallidus and the right pallidus,putamen,and thalamus in the CSVD-m group were higher than those of the control group(all P<0.01),and the left hippocampus was lower than that of the control group(P=0.045).(3)The susceptibility values of the bilateral putamen were significantly negatively correlated with MoCA scale score(left putamen:rs=-0.316,P=0.015;right putamen:rs=-0.316,P=0.014).Conclusion Abnormal iron metabolism occurs in gray matter nuclei of CSVD patients,and iron deposition in the putamen correlate with cognitive dysfunction.
Cerebral small vessel diseaseIron depositionQuantitative susceptibility mappingCognitive function