Detection of cerebral microbleeds by Susceptibility-Weighted-MR-Imaging in elderly population in comparison with cognitive tests

Abstract

Background: Neuroimaging results related to cerebral microbleeds are becoming more well known. Significant advancements have been made in recent years, notably in the creation of improved MRI detection technologies and their application to various diagnostic investigations of neuropsychological illnesses. The purpose of this research was to determine if susceptibility weighted imaging can identify cerebral microbleeds in older people and determine whether these microbleeds were associated with cognitive dysfunction. Results: This study was an observational cross-sectional study performed on 58 elderly subjects above the age of 50. Cognitive functions for the included subjects were assessed using Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT), Benton Visual Retention test (BVRT) and Paired Associate Learning test (PALT). All included subjects underwent routine MRI and susceptibility weighted images. The mean values for PALT, BVRT, PASAT scores were 10.2±3.2, 12.7±3.4, and 27.9±10.9 respectively. There were statistically significant negative correlations between the scores of PALT, BVRT, PASAT, and lobar (P-value <0.001 in all tests) and total number of microbleeds (P-value= 0.005, 0.016, 0.001 respectively). In addition, there was a statistically significant negative correlation between PASAT score and number of infra-tentorial microbleeds (P-value= 0.022). Conclusions: The occurrence of cerebral microbleeds detected by Susceptibility-Weighted-MR-Imaging had a significant impact on cognitive function. The Susceptibility-Weighted-MR-Imaging can be used as a screening for early detection of microbleeds in patients with impaired cognitive functions and so, we can avoid the consequences of CMBs specially in male subjects with associated comorbidities as diabetes and hypertension.