Cortical Microinfarcts on 3T Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy

Background and Purpose— Cerebral microinfarcts are small ischemic lesions that are found in cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) patients at autopsy. The current study aimed to detect cortical microinfarcts (CMI) on in vivo 3 Tesla (3T) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in CAA patients, to study the progression of CMI over a 1-year period, and to correlate CMI with markers of CAA-related vascular brain injury and cognitive functioning. Methods— Thirty-five CAA patients (mean age, 74.2±7.6 years), 13 Alzheimer disease (AD) patients (67.0±5.8 years), and 26 healthy controls (67.2±9.5 years) participated in the study. All participants underwent a standardized clinical and neuropsychological assessment as well as 3T MRI. CMI were rated according to standardized criteria. Results— CMI were present in significantly more CAA patients (57.1%; median number: 1, range 1–9) than in Alzheimer disease (7.7%) or in healthy controls (11.5%; P<0.001). Incident CMI were observed after a 1-year follow-up. CMI did not correlate...