Acceleration of cerebral ventricular expansion in the Cardiovascular Health Study

Interactions between prevalent late-life medical conditions and expansion of the cerebral ventricles are not well understood. Thirty elderly subjects received three magnetic resonance (MR) scans each, in 1997–1999, 2002–2004, and 2003–2005. A linear expansion model of MR-measured lateral ventricle volume was estimated for each subject by fitting a line to a plot of their 1997–1999 and 2002–2004 volumes as a function of time. Acceleration in ventricular expansion was defined as the deviation between the 2003–2005 volumes measured from MR and the 2003–2005 volumes predicted by the linear expansion model. Ventricular acceleration was analyzed in a multivariate model with age, race, history of heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension as fixed effects. Ventricular acceleration was significantly higher in non-whites, diabetics, and those without heart disease (p<0.05). Ventricular acceleration was higher in subjects with a history of hypertension, but the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.08). Acceleration of ventricular expansion in the elderly may be related to demographic and cardiovascular factors.