Topographic distribution of white matter changes and lacunar infarcts in neurodegenerative and vascular dementia syndromes: A post-mortem 7.0-tesla magnetic resonance imaging study

BackgroundWhite matter changes and lacunar infarcts are regarded as linked to the same underlying small-vessel pathology. On magnetic resonance imaging, white matter changes are frequently observed, while the number of lacunar infarcts is probably underestimated. The present study post-mortem 7.0-tesla magnetic resonance imaging study compares the severity and the distribution of white matter changes and lacunar infarcts in different neurodegenerative and vascular dementia syndromes in order to determine their impact on the disease evolution.Patients and methodsEighty-four post-mortem brains consisting of 15 patients with pure Alzheimer’s disease and 12 with associated cerebral amyloid angiopathy, 14 patients with frontotemporal lobar degeneration, 7 with Lewy body dementia, 10 with progressive supranuclear palsy, 14 with vascular dementia and 12 control brains were examined. Six hemispheric coronal sections of each brain underwent 7.0-tesla magnetic resonance imaging. Location and severity of white matte...