Association of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease and Cognitive Decline After Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Objective To determine whether MRI-based cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) burden assessment, in addition to clinical and CT data, improved prediction of cognitive impairment after spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH).

Methods We analyzed data from ICH survivors enrolled in a single-center prospective study. We employed 3 validated CSVD burden scores: global, cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA)–specific, and hypertensive arteriopathy (HTNA)–specific. We quantified cognitive performance by administering the modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status test. We utilized linear mixed models to model cognitive decline rates, and survival models for new-onset dementia. We calculated CSVD scores' cutoffs to maximize predictive performance for dementia diagnosis.

Results We enrolled 612 ICH survivors, and followed them for a median of 46.3 months (interquartile range 35.5–58.7). A total of 214/612 (35%) participants developed dementia. Higher global CSVD scores at baseline were associated with faster cognitive decline (coefficient −0.25, standard error [SE] 0.02) and dementia risk (sub–hazard ratio 1.35, 95% confidence interval 1.10–1.65). The global score outperformed the CAA and HTNA scores in predicting post-ICH dementia (all p < 0.05). Compared to a model including readily available clinical and CT data, inclusion of the global CSVD score resulted in improved prediction of post-ICH dementia (area under the curve [AUC] 0.89, SE 0.02 vs AUC 0.81, SE 0.03, p = 0.008 for comparison). Global CSVD scores ≥2 had highest sensitivity (83%) and specificity (91%) for dementia diagnosis.

Conclusions A validated MRI-based CSVD score is associated with cognitive performance after ICH and improved diagnostic accuracy for predicting new onset of dementia.