Cerebral white matter changes : Differentiating vascular and degenerative cognitive impairment
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- Institutt for klinisk medisin [10814]
Abstract
Different types of dementia are difficult to identify in vivo, especially at early stages and partly due to the frequent co-existence of various etiologies. Recent techniques, including examination of biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and advanced brain imaging techniques facilitate a more precise diagnosis of a given type of dementia. As previous diagnostic criteria for the Alzheimer type of dementia (AD) only captured the disease after dementia occured, new criteria involving recent biomarkers aim to arrive at a diagnosis at early stages, even prior to the onset of overt dementia. Along with episodic memory impairment, neuroimaging and CSF analysis have been proposed as reliable and important tools to make an accurate AD diagnosis possible, including forms of AD with co-existing cerebrovascular disease. The objective of this thesis aims to exploit the posssibilities of CSF analysis and neuroimaging in order to better understand the relationship between cerebrovascular and degenerative changes and cognition. To do so, measures of cerebral white matter changes from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were studied in cognitively impaired patients and compared to levels of CSF biomarkers and cognition. In degenerative and vascular cognitive impairment, risk factors and pathological disease processes have been well mapped. However, it remains unclear which exact mechanisms trigger these processes and in which way white matter changes and cortical events are connected. Improved early diagnostic specificity and better knowledge of interaction between vascular and degenerative changes may give rise to specific approaches to prevention and therapy, based upon individual risk-profiles.List of papers
I. Stenset V, Johnsen L, Kocot D, Negaard A, Skinningsrud A, Gulbrandsen P, Wallin A, Fladby T. Associations between white matter lesions, cerebrovascular risk factors, and low CSF A 42. Neurology 2006;67(5):830-833. The paper is not available in DUO. The published version is available at: https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000234030.77831.5a |
II. Stenset V, Hofoss D, Johnsen L, Skinningsrud A, Berstad AE, Negaard A, Reinvang I, Gjerstad L, Fladby T. White matter lesion severity is associated with reduced cognitive performances in patients with normal CSF A 42 levels. Acta Neurol Scand. 2008 Dec;118(6):373-378. The paper is not available in DUO. The published version is available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0404.2008.01045.x |
III. Stenset V, Hofoss D, Berstad AE, Negaard A, Gjerstad L, Fladby T. White Matter Lesion Subtypes and Cognitive Deficits in Patients with Memory Impairment. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 2008;26(5):424-431. The paper is not available in DUO. The published version is available at: https://doi.org/10.1159/000165355 |
IV. Stenset V, Hofoss D, Johnsen L, Berstad AE, Negaard A, Skinningsrud A, Gjerstad L, Fladby T. White matter lesion load increases the risk of low CSF A42 in apolipoprotein E 4 carriers. Under review. The paper is not available in DUO. |
V. Stenset V, Bjørnerud A, Fjell AM, Walhovd KB, Hofoss D, Due-Tønnessen P, Gjerstad L, Fladby T. Cingulum fiber diffusivity and CSF T-tau in patients with subjective and mild cognitive impairment. Neurobiol Aging 2009 (Epub ahead of print) The paper is not available in DUO. The published version is available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2009.04.014 |