Can Fluid-Filled Spaces in the Brain Predict Dementia? People with enlarged fluid-filled spaces in the brain around small blood vessels may be more likely to develop dementia than people whose perivascular spaces are smaller, according to a CHeBA study published in Neurology. The study, led by Research Fellow Dr Matt Paradise, involved 400 people with an average age of 80. Participants took tests of thinking and memory skills at the beginning of the study and again four years later. Researchers evaluated participants for dementia at the beginning of the study and again eight years later. The participants also had MRI brain scans to check for enlarged perivascular spaces in two areas of the brain. The top quarter of the people with the largest number of enlarged perivascular spaces, or the severe cases, were compared to those with fewer or no enlarged spaces, or the mild or absent cases.
Co-author and Co-Director of CHeBA, Professor Perminder Sachdev, said that vascular abnormalities play a central role in the development of dementia in a large proportion of patients. “Vascular abnormalities can manifest in many forms, and this study highlights the importance of looking at perivascular spaces, which have often been dismissed in the past as being simply normal age-related changes,” said Professor Perminder Sachdev. DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000011537 The study was supported by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and the Josh Woolfson Memorial Scholarship.
“Severe perivascular space disease may be a marker for an increased risk of cognitive decline and dementia.” Dr Matt Paradise “More research is needed to understand how these enlarged spaces develop, as they could be an important potential biomarker to help with early diagnosis of dementia.” Researchers found that people with severe cases in both areas of the brain were nearly three times more likely to develop dementia during the study than people with fewer or no enlarged spaces.
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