Interrelation between cardiac and brain small-vessel disease: a pilot quantitative PET and MRI study

BACKGROUND: Rb cardiac PET/CT and brain MRI. RESULTS: Rb PET/CT, while Fazekas score, white matter lesion (WMab) volume, deep gray matter lesion (GMab) volume, and brain morphometry (for z-score calculation) using the MorphoBox research application were derived from MRI. Groups were compared with Kruskal-Wallis test, and the potential interrelation between heart and brain SVD markers was assessed using Pearson's correlation coefficient. Patients with cardiac SVD had lower stress LV-MBF and MFR (P < 0.001) than patients with normal myocardial perfusion; Fazekas scores and WMab volumes were similar in those two groups (P > 0.45). In patients with cardiac SVD only, higher rest LV-MBF was associated with a lower left-putamen (rho = - 0.62, P = 0.033), right-thalamus (rho = 0.64, P = 0.026), and right-pallidum (rho = 0.60, P = 0.039) z-scores and with a higher GMab volume. Lower stress LV-MBF was associated with lower left-caudate z-score (rho = 0.69, P = 0.014), while lower LV-MFR was associated with lower left (rho = 0.75, P = 0.005)- and right (rho = 0.59, P = 0.045)-putamen z-scores, as well as higher right-thalamus GMab volume (rho = - 0.72, P = 0.009). CONCLUSION: Significant interrelations between cardiac and cerebral SVD markers were found, especially regarding deep gray matter alterations, which supports the hypothesis of SVD as a systemic disease.