Brain Perfusion, Cognitive Functions, and Vascular Age in Middle Aged Patients With Essential Arterial Hypertension

Objective. This study aimed to assess the cognitive functions and cerebral blood flow measured with arterial spin labeling (ASL) and their possible correlations with vascular age in untreated middle-aged patients with grade 1-2 essential arterial hypertension (EAH). Methods. We examined 73 subjects aged 40-59 years (33 with EAH and 40 healthy volunteers [controls]). Neuropsychological assessment included Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Trail Making test (part A and part B), Stroop Color and Word Test, verbal fluency test (phonemic verbal fluency and semantic verbal fluency), 10-item word list learning task. All subjects underwent brain MRI. MRI protocol included ASL. Vascular age was calculated by two techniques - using Framingham Heart Study risk tables and SCORE project scales. Results. Patients with EAH had lower performance on phonemic verbal fluency test and lower mean MoCA score (29.2±1.4 vs. 28.1±1.7 points) compared to controls (13.4±3.2, р=0.002; 29.2±1.4, p=0.001, respectively). White matter hyperintensities (WMH) were present in 7.5% controls and in 51.5% EAH patients (р=0.0002). Cerebral blood flow (CBF) in EAH patients was lower in both right (39.1±5.6 vs. 45.8±3.2 ml/100 g/min) and left frontal lobes of the brain (39.2±6.2 и 45.2±3.6 ml/100 g/min, respectively) compared to controls (р<0.001). EAH patients without WMH had lower CBF compared to controls (right frontal lobe: 39.5±5.1 ml/100 g/min, p=0.0002; left frontal lobe: 38.9±4.3 ml/100 g/min, p=0.00002). In EAH patients vascular age (57.7±7.4 and 64.6±11.0 years as measured by SCORE project scales and Framingham Heart Study risk tables, respectively) was significantly (p<0.001) greater than chronological one (50.2±6.2 years) and was significantly (p<0.001) higher than the corresponding values in the control group. Correlation analysis revealed negative significant associations between vascular age and MoCA score, phonemic verbal fluency test score and CBF. Conclusions. Treatment-naive middle-aged patients with uncomplicated grade 1-2 EAH compared to normotensive controls have lower mean scores in phonemic fluency test and MoCA, lower CBF, even in the absence of WMH, which correlates with vascular age, particularly with the value calculated by Framingham Heart Study risk tables. Early vascular ageing is important factor of brain impairment in hypertension in middle-aged patients even at early stages of EAH.

артериальная гипертония, сосудистый возраст, головной мозг, поражение органов-мишеней, когнитивные нарушения, магнитно-резонансная томография, поражение белого вещества головного мозга, спиновая маркировка артериальной крови, церебральный кровоток, arterial hypertension, middle age, vascular agе, brain, target-organ damage, cognitive impairment, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), white matter lesions, arterial spin labeling, cerebral blood flow

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