Habitat analysis by multi-parametric MRI predicts progressive white matter hyperintensities in cerebral small vessel disease

White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are commonly seen in cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) and are associated with an risk of cognitive impairment. However, the mechanism by which WMH develop is incompletely characterized. In this study, we conducted habitat analysis based on physiologic MRI parameters to investigate whether WMH habitat can predict progressive WMH in CSVD. We found that the physiologic MRI habitat with lower fractional anisotropy and cerebral blood flow, higher mean diffusivity, axial diffusivity and radial diffusivity was highly overlapping with the growing WMH in patients after one-year followup, and thus could predict progressive WMH in CSVD.