Subcortical Magnetic Resonance Imaging Changes in a Healthy Elderly Population; Stroke Risk Factors, Ultrasound, and Hemostasis Findings.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings in a group of 60 ambulatory elderly individuals (average age, 75.8 yr) were characterized as normal (grade 0), periventricular changes only (grade 1 ). small punctate lesions (grade 2), and confluent or large (> 2 mm) punctate lesions (grade 3). Patients were characterized by stroke risk factors, cardiolipin antibodies, coagulation factors (fibrinogen and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 ). and Doppler ultrasound findings in the carotid and middle cerebral arteries. Subcortical signal abnormalities were present in 62% (37 /60), relatively evenly distributed between grade 1 (18%), grade 2 (25%), and grade 3 (18%). There was no significant association between variables and MRI grade. These findings suggest that ischemia is not a major cause of MRI signal abnormalities in neurologically asymptomatic elderly individuals.