Abstract Details

Title Histopathological Staging of Salient Cerebrovascular Lesions Associated With Normal Aging

Topic Aging, Dementia, and Behavioral Neurology

Presentation(s) P11 - Poster Session 11 (8:00 AM-9:00 AM)

Poster/Presentation
Number 10-008

Objective We aimed to validate a cerebrovascular histological scale in order to assess the natural progression of vascular lesions associated with normal brain aging, and further understand their potential contribution to cognitive impairment.

Background Vascular cognitive impairment can be viewed as the clinical manifestation of diffuse underlying cerebrovascular disease. The latter can be confirmed with post-mortem examination. However, it is nonspecific and also found in cognitively intact individuals, as prevalence increases with age. There is also an important overlap between cerebrovascular pathology and other neurodegenerative conditions, especially Alzheimer’s disease, where more than 40% of cases are of mixed aetiologies.

Design/Methods Brain specimens from 63 cognitively intact participants aged 19 to 84 were examined and rated by two blinded and independent observers using a modified version of the Vascular Cognitive Impairment Neuropathology Guidelines (VCING; Skrobot et al. 2016). The scale focuses on nine anatomical regions and ten histological changes, including vascular wall lesions and secondary tissue damages. Weighted Kappa coefficients were calculated to estimate interrater reliability, and Spearman’s rank correlation test was used to calculate regional gradients of vascular load associated with age.

Results

Preliminary analyses suggest an inter-observer agreement ranging from 0.39 to 1.00. Atherosclerosis, arteriolosclerosis, and global perivascular hemosiderin deposits were significantly correlated with age (ρ = 0.76, 0.74, and 0.39, respectively; p < 0.005). There was also a trend in the severity of perivascular retraction associated with age (ρ = 0.261, p = 0.039). In arteriolosclerosis, the strongest regional gradients were observed in deeper brain structures (i.e., lenticular nucleus, striatum and thalamus).

Conclusions

These results suggest an existing cerebrovascular pathology that accumulates with aging in cognitively intact individuals, and the burden of which can be reproducibly estimated with a modified version of the VCING scale.

Authors/Disclosures
Caroline Dallaire-Théroux, MD, PhD PRESENTER	Dr. Dallaire-Théroux has received research support from Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
	No disclosure on file
Simon Duchesne, PhD (CRULRG)	Dr. Duchesne has received personal compensation in the range of $10,000-$49,999 for serving as a Consultant for Qynapse SAS. Dr. Duchesne has received personal compensation in the range of $0-$499 for serving as an Editor, Associate Editor, or Editorial Advisory Board Member for Nature Group. Dr. Duchesne has received stock or an ownership interest from Qynapse SAS. Dr. Duchesne has received intellectual property interests from a discovery or technology relating to health care.

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