RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Small-vessel disease (SVD) plays a crucial role in cardiac and brain ischemia, but little is known about potential interrelation between both. We retrospectively evaluated 370 patients, aiming at assessing the interrelation between cardiac and brain SVD by using quantitative 82Rb cardiac PET/CT and brain MRI. RESULTS: In our population of 370 patients, 176 had normal myocardial perfusion, 38 had pure cardiac SVD and 156 had obstructive coronary artery disease. All underwent both a cardiac 82Rb PET/CT and a brain 1.5T or 3T MRI. Left-ventricle myocardial blood flow (LV-MBF) and flow reserve (LV-MFR) were recorded from 82Rb PET/CT, while Fazekas score, white matter lesion (WMab) volume, deep gray matter lesion (GMab) volume, and brain morphometry (for z-score calculation) using the MorphoBox research application were derived from MRI. Groups were compared with Kruskal-Wallis test, and the potential interrelation between heart and brain SVD markers was assessed using Pearson's correlation coefficient. Patients with cardiac SVD had lower stress LV-MBF and MFR (P < 0.001) than patients with normal myocardial perfusion; Fazekas scores and WMab volumes were similar in those two groups (P > 0.45). In patients with cardiac SVD only, higher rest LV-MBF was associated with a lower left-putamen (rho = - 0.62, P = 0.033), right-thalamus (rho = 0.64, P = 0.026), and right-pallidum (rho = 0.60, P = 0.039) z-scores and with a higher GMab volume. Lower stress LV-MBF was associated with lower left-caudate z-score (rho = 0.69, P = 0.014), while lower LV-MFR was associated with lower left (rho = 0.75, P = 0.005)- and right (rho = 0.59, P = 0.045)-putamen z-scores, as well as higher right-thalamus GMab volume (rho = - 0.72, P = 0.009). CONCLUSION: Significant interrelations between cardiac and cerebral SVD markers were found, especially regarding deep gray matter alterations, which supports the hypothesis of SVD as a systemic disease.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Isolated cerebral deep medullary vein thrombosis has been described in the setting of hemorrhagic periventricular white matter lesions in preterm and full-term neonates, but to the best of our knowledge, has never been reported in adults. We present two cases of isolated thrombosis of the superior striate vein occurring in adults that could be analogous to deep medullary vein thrombosis in that they involve deep cerebral veins only without thrombosis of the subependymal or internal cerebral veins. CASE DESCRIPTION: Two women aged 20 and 39, presented with transient neurological deficits and headache. Diagnosis of isolated superior striate vein thrombosis was based on CT and MRI findings with long term imaging follow-up. Both patients evolved favorably under conservative treatment without anticoagulation. Thrombophilia workup was negative and both patients were active smokers under oral contraception. CONCLUSION: Isolated superior striate vein thrombosis is a rare form of intracranial venous thrombosis and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of stroke-like episodes with headache in adults. Isolated superior striate vein thrombosis presents with characteristic imaging features on CT and MRI.