Key result
Midlife aortic atherosclerosis was associated with a 2.4-fold increased risk of periventricular white matter lesions ≈20 years later, but not with subcortical lesions.
Why the study?
Does the presence of aortic atherosclerosis in midlife or late life predict cerebral white matter lesions in the elderly?
Population
Adults aged 60 to 90 years randomly sampled from two population-based follow-up studies
Comparison
Presence of aortic atherosclerosis assessed on… vs Absence of aortic atherosclerosis
Design
Cohort
Follow-up
mean 19.6 years for midlife cohort, 4.8 years for…
Authors
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Supports midlife vascular assessment for cognitive risk; extends cross-sectional data longitudinally but leaves open causal effects.
Does the presence of aortic atherosclerosis in midlife or late life predict cerebral white matter lesions in the elderly?
Aortic atherosclerosis in midlife, but not late life, is a significant predictor of periventricular white matter lesions 20 years later, suggesting that vascular prevention strategies for cognitive decline should begin early in life.
Leeuw et al. (2000) studied this question. Midlife aortic atherosclerosis was associated with a 2.4-fold increased risk of periventricular white matter lesions ≈20 years later, but not with subcortical lesions.
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