Association of cerebral small vessel disease and cognitive decline after intracerebral hemorrhage

Objective:We sought 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 three validated CSVD burden scores: global, cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA)-specific, hypertensive arteriopathy (HTNA)-specific. We quantified cognitive performance by administering the modified Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status (TICS-m) test. We utilized linear mixed models to model cognitive decline rates, and survival models for new-onset dementia. We calculated CSVD scores’ cut-offs to maximize predictive performance for dementia diagnosis.Results:We enrolled 612 ICH survivors, and followed them for a median of 46.3 months (Inter-Quartile 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 (Coeff -0.25, Standard Error [SE] 0.02) and dementia risk (Sub-Hazard Ratio 1.35, 95% CI 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.