Table 1. Subject and tissue characteristics of the ex vivo study.
| Subject | Neuropathologic diagnosisa | Sex F/M | Age (years) | Number of slices | Fixation duration (months) | Number of CMIsb Ex vivo MRI | Number of CMIsc Histology |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | AD (B&B VI) | F | 64 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 1 |
| B | Lewy body dementia (B VI) | M | 83 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| C | AD (B&B VI) with hypertensive vasculopathy (with hemorrhagic infarct) | M | 74 | 2 | 9 | 1 | 1 |
| D | Extensive hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (with early stage of infarction in the watershed areas) | M | 71 | 2 | 15 | 1 | 1 |
| E | Alpha-synucleinopathy, classified as Lewy body dementia (B III-IV) | M | 87 | 2 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| F | AD (B&B II) with mild-to-severe hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (with cystic degeneration of infarct in the left operculum as a result of atherosclerotic vasculopathy) | M | 79 | 2 | 6 | 4d | 6e |
CMI, cerebral microinfarct; F, female; M, male; AD, Alzheimer's disease; B&B, Braak & Braak stage;29 B, Braak stage;30 MRI, magnetic resonance imaging.
Neuropathologic diagnosis was established on whole-brain and targeted histopathologic examination.
Number of possible CMIs identified on ex vivo MRI.
Number of definite CMIs verified on histopathologic examination.
Two cortical CMIs in the brain tissue of this subject were solely found on ultra-high resolution ex vivo T2 (400 × 400 × 400 μm3) in retrospect, after the CMI was identified on histopathologic examination.
One cortical CMI was found in the negative control tissue taken from the brain tissue of this subject (and could not be found again on ex vivo MRI). One additional CMI was found in close proximity to one of the CMIs that was identified on ex vivo MRI. These extra CMIs could in retrospect not be found on ex vivo MRI.