Structural and Microvascular Changes in the Macular Are Associated With Severity of White Matter Lesions

作者：Chenlei Peng, William Robert Kwapong, Shasha Xu, Farah Mohamed Muse, Jueyan Yan, Man Qu, Yungang Cao, Hanpei Miao, Zhenxiang Zhen, Bo Wu, Zhao Han · 发表于：Frontiers in Neurology · 年份：2020 · DOI：10.3389/fneur.2020.00521 · 被引用次数：31 · 研究领域：Acute Ischemic Stroke Management、Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis、Neurological Disease Mechanisms and Treatments

Purpose: To characterize the microvascular and structural changes in the macular that occur in WMH using optical coherence tomographic angiography; we also aimed to explore the association between macular microvascular and structural changes with focal markers of brain tissue on MRI in WMH using the Fazekas scale. Methods: This study enrolled healthy participants who were stroke and dementia-free. MRI was used to image the cerebral white matter lesions and Fazekas scale was used to evaluate the severity of the white matter lesions. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) was used to image the radial peripapillary capillaries (RPCs), macular capillary plexuses (superficial capillary plexus, SCP and deep capillary plexus, DCP) and thickness around the optic nerve head, peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL). Results: 74 participants were enrolled and divided into 2 groups according to their Fazekas score (Fazekas score ≤1 and Fazekas score ≥2). Fazekas score ≥2 participants showed significantly reduced RPC density (P = 0.02) and DCP density (P = 0.012) when compared with Fazekas score ≤1 participants. Fazekas score ≥2 participants showed reduced pRNFL (P = 0.004) when compared to Fazekas score ≤1 participants. Fazekas scores were significantly associated with the pRNFL thickness (Rho = -0.389, P = 0.001), RPC density (Rho = -0.248, P = 0.035) and DCP density (Rho = -0.283, P = 0.015) respectively. Conclusions: Microvascular impairment and neuro-axonal damage a...