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Does Tetralogy of Fallot affect brain aging? A proof-of-concept study.

Does Tetralogy of Fallot affect brain aging? A proof-of-concept study.

Authors :
Marina Codari
Giacomo Davide Edoardo Papini
Luca Melazzini
Francesca Romana Pluchinotta
Francesco Secchi
Mario Carminati
Alessandro Frigiola
Massimo Chessa
Francesco Sardanelli
Source :
PLoS ONE, Vol 13, Iss 8, p e0202496 (2018)
Publication Year :
2018
Publisher :
Public Library of Science (PLoS), 2018.

Abstract

The impact of congenital heart disease on brain aging has not been extensively investigated. We evaluated cerebral microbleeds and white matter hyperintensities on brain magnetic resonance imaging in adult patients with tetralogy of Fallot (ToF). Ten ToF patients (6 women, 4 men; aged 21-58 years; New York Heart Association [NYHA] class 1-2) were prospectively enrolled and underwent a T1-weighted, a T2-weighted dark fluid, and a T2*-weighted scans. Ten age- and sex-matched controls were prospectively recruited and subjected to the same acquisition protocol. Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) were manually counted while white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) were segmented using ITK-Snap. Wilcoxon signed-rank test, Spearman correlation, and Bland-Altman statistics were used. The median (interquartile range [IQR]) age was 45.0 (30.5-49.5) years in ToF patients and 46.0 (30.5-49.8) years in controls. The median (IQR) of the number of CMBs was 6.0 (4.0-7.8) in ToF patients and 0 (0.0-0.0) in controls (p = 0.002). The WMHs burden was 2,506 (1,557-2,900) mm3 for ToF patients and 2,212 (1,860-2,586) mm3 for controls (p = 0.160). Moreover, a positive significant correlation was found between the WMHs burden and the NYHA class (ρ = 0.80, p = 0.005). Inter-operator concordance rate for the presence/absence of CMBs was 90%; the reproducibility for the WMHs burden was 77%. In conclusion, we found more cerebral microbleeds and a higher WMHs burden in adult ToF patients than in controls. This preliminary comparison supports the hypothesis of an early brain aging in ToF patients. Larger studies are warranted.

Subjects

Subjects :
Medicine
Science

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
19326203 and 46897356
Volume :
13
Issue :
8
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
PLoS ONE
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.b7857ed7d89546a9a46897356ddb5e97
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202496