Atrophy of the parahippocampal gyrus is prominent in heart failure patients without dementia

Aims The exacerbation of heart failure (HF) induces brain damage and cognitive impairment (CI), which frequently attenuates the effects of treatment. However, it is not clear whether HF patients without clinical dementia demonstrate increased risk of CI. We examined whether local atrophy in the parahippocampal gyrus, a potential predictor of CI, is prominent in HF patients without clinical dementia. Methods and results Twenty stable HF patients with a history of admission due to decompensated HF or presentation of apparent pulmonary congestion following chest X-ray and 17 controls were enrolled in this observational, analytical, cross-sectional, case-control study. Patients with dementia were excluded from this study based on the results of cognitive assessment. Three-dimensional T1 weighted magnetic resonance image analysis was performed to evaluate the severity of local brain atrophy using software based on statistical parametric mapping. Z-score values were calculated to evaluate the severity of atrophy in the total brain and parahippocampal gyrus. The severity of total brain atrophy was similar between HF patients (8.0 ± 2.9%) and controls (6.5 ± 3.1%). However, the Z-score was significantly higher in the HF group (1.12 ± 0.49) in comparison with the control group (0.63 ± 0.36, P = 0.002). The Z-score value did not correlate with age, ejection fraction, left atrial dimension, left ventricular dimensions, or brain natriuretic peptides in the HF group but did correlate with the Clinical Frailty Scale. Conclusions Local atrophy in the parahippocampal gyrus was prominent in HF patients without clinical dementia. This finding showed that HF patients without dementia feature a potential risk for developing CI.