Cognitive impairment in two subtypes of a single subcortical infarction

Background:Single subcortical infarction(SSI)is caused by two main etiological subtypes,which are branch atheromatous disease(BAD)and cerebral small vessel disease(CSVD)-related SSI.We applied the Beijing version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment(MoCA-BJ),the Shape Trail Test(STT),and the Stroop Color and Word Test(SCWT)to investigate the differences in cognitive performance between these two subtypes of SSI.Methods:Patients with acute SSIs were prospectively enrolled.The differences of MoCA-BJ,STT,and SCWT between the BAD group and CSVD-related SSI group were analyzed.A generalized linear model was used to analyze the associations between SSI patients with different etiological mechanisms and cognitive function.We investigated the correlations between MoCA-BJ,STT,and SCWT using Spearman’s correlation analysis and established cut-off scores for Shape Trail Test A(STT-A)and STT-B to identify cognitive impairment in patients with SSI.Results:This study enrolled a total of 106 patients,including 49 and 57 patients with BAD and CSVD-related SSI,respectively.The BAD group performances were worse than those of the CSVD-related SSI group for STT-A(83[60.5-120.0]vs.68[49.0-86.5],P=0.01),STT-B(204[151.5-294.5]vs.153[126.5-212.5],P=0.015),and the number of correct answers on Stroop-C(46[41-49]vs.49[45-50],P=0.035).After adjusting for age,years of education,National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and lesion location,the performance of SSI patients with different etiological mechanisms still differed significantly for STT-A and STT-B.Conclusions:BAD patients were more likely to perform worse than CSVD-related SSI patients in the domains of language,attention,executive function,and memory.The mechanism of cognitive impairment after BAD remains unclear.

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy in a Chinese pedigree A case report using brain magnetic resonance imaging and biospy

The present study enrolled a Chinese family that comprised 34 members and spanned three generations. Eight members were diagnosed with cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy, and disease diagnoses corresponded with autosomal incomplete dominance inheritance. The primary clinical manifestations included paralysis, dysarthria, and mild cognitive deficits. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed diffuse leukoencephalopathy with involvement of bilateral anterior temporal lobes, in particular the pons. In addition, multiple cerebral infarction was identified in the proband. Sural nerve biopsy findings of the proband revealed granular osmophilic material deposits in the extracellular matrix, which were adjacent to smooth muscle cells of dermal arterioles. Screening exons 2-4 for NOTCH 3 mutations by direct sequencing did not reveal any abnormalities.

NOTCH3 Mutations and CADASIL Phenotype in Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Associated with Congenital Heart Disease

Background:The etiology of pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with congenital heart disease(PAHCHD)is complicated and the phenotype is heterogeneous.Genetic defects of NOTCH3 were associated withcerebral disease and pulmonary hypertension.However,the relationship between NOTCH3 mutations and theclinical phenotype has not been reported in CHD-PAH.Methods:We eventually enrolled 142 PAH-CHD patientsfrom Fuwai Hospital.Whole exome sequencing(WES)was performed to screen the rare deleterious variants ofNOTCH3 gene.Results:This PAH-CHD cohort included 43(30.3%)men and 99(69.7%)women with the meanage 29.8±10.9 years old.The pathogenic or likely pathogenic mutations of NOTCH3 were identified in five cases.Patients 2,5,8 and 11 carried the same NOTCH3 mutation c.1630C>T(pArg544Cys),which is the hot-spotmutation for cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy(CADASIL).Patient 3 carried the NOTCH3 mutation p.Arg75Gln that has also been reported to be associatedwith the CADASIL.Patients 2,5,8,11 took the examination of the cerebral magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)and confirmed the phenotype of CADASIL.Conclusions:We first reported the NOTCH3 rare mutationsand CADASIL phenotypes in CHD-PAH patients.The NOTCH3 rare variants were with a relatively high positiverate and CADASIL phenotypes were likely enriched in PAH-CHD patients.The preoperative neurological examinationmight be recommended for PAH-CHD patients to determine the surgical contraindications and reduceintraoperative neurological complications.

A case of hereditary multi-infarct dementia Mutation in exon 11 of the Notch3 gene on chromosome 19

This study is a report on one 59-year-old male patient with hereditary multi-infarct dementia who came from a family with a positive family history of this disease. The patient primarily presented with dizziness accompanied by vertigo and a positive Romberg＇s sign. Skull magnetic resonance images showed lacunar infarction in bilateral temporal lobes, bilateral basal ganglias, periventricular white matter and semioval center, and ischemic focus accompanied by white matter degeneration, exhibiting senile morphological brain changes. No abnormalities were observed by skull magnetic resonance angiography. Gene detection further confirmed that there was Arg607Cys heterozygous mutation in exon 11 of the Notch3gene. No other mutations in exons were detected.

Study of Enhanced Depth Imaging Optical Coherence Tomography in Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy with Subcortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy

Background： Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy （CADASIL） is a hereditar5 small artery disease caused by NOTCH3 gene mutation. We performed enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography （EDI-OCT） to evaluate the retinal vessel changes in CADASIL patients and assessed their consonance with brain magnetic resonance imaging （MPRI） findings. Methods： Of 27 genetically confirmed patients and an equal number of controls were recruited at the Peking University First ttospital from January 2015 to August 2016. All patients underwent 7T-MRI of the brain. Fazekas score, number of small infarcts and microblecds were evaluated. All patients and controls underwent EDI-OCT to measure subtbveal choroidal thickness （SFCT）, inner and outer diameters as well as arterial and venous wall thickness, and arterial venous ratio of the inner （AVRin） and outer diameters （AVRout）. The relation between retinal vessel changes and Fazekas scores, numbers of small infarcts, or microbleeds was analyzed. Paired t-test was used to compare the SFCT and retinal vessel measurement data between patients and controls. Spearman＇s correlation was used to investigmc the correlation between retinal vessel changes and MRI lesions. Results： In CADASI L patients, mean SFCT （268.37 ± 46.50 μm） and mean arterial inner diameter （93.46 ± 9.70 gin） were signilicantly lower than that in controls （P 〈 0.00 ）, P = 0.048, respectively）. Mean arterial outer diameter （ 131.74 ± 10.87 μm）, venous inner （ 128.99 ± 13.62 μm） and outer diameter （ 164.82 ±14.77 μm）, and mean arterial （ 19.13 ±1.85 μm） and venous （ 17.91 ±2.76 μm） wall thickness were significantly higher than that in controls （P = 0.023, P 0.004, P 〈 0.001, P 〈 0.001, respectively）. Arterial inner diameter （r= - 0.39, P 0.044）] AVRin （r -0.65, P 〈 0.001）, and AVR,, （r =0.56, P - 0.002） showed a negative correlation with the number of small infarcts. Venous inner diameter （rs=0.46, P= 0.016） showed a positive correlation with the number of small infarcts. Venous inner diameter （r 0.59, P = 0.002）, outer diameter （rs=0.47, P= 0.017）, showed a positive correlation with the number of cerebral microbleeds （CM Bs）. AVRin （r =0.52, P = 0.007） and AVRout （r = -0.40, P =0.048） showed a negative correlation with the number of CMBs. Conclusions： Measurement of retinal vessels using EDI-OCT correlates moderately well with MRI parameters. EDI-OCT might bc a useful evaluation tool for CADASIL patients.