Table 2.
Comparison of Alzheimer’s disease groups with cerebrovascular changes (AD+CVC) and without cerebrovascular changes (AD−CVC) on vascular risk factors and neuropathologic measures
| AD+CVC, n = 50 mean (sd) |
AD−CVC, n = 34 mean (sd) |
t or χ2 value |
p- value |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual Vascular Risk Factors, N (%) | ||||||
| Cardiovascular Disease | 23 (46.00%) | 9 (26.47%) | 3.27 | .07 | ||
| Diabetes | 7 (14.00%) | 1 (2.94%) | 2.87 | .09 | ||
| Hypertension | 33 (66.00%) | 18 (53.00%) | 1.48 | .23 | ||
| High Total Cholesterol | 19 (38.00%) | 9 (26.47%) | 1.21 | .27 | ||
| Atrial Fibrillation | 6 (12.00%) | 1 (2.94%) | 2.17 | .14 | ||
| Current smoker | 3 (6.00%) | 3 (8.82%) | .24 | .62 | ||
| TIA/Stroke | 7 (14.00%) | 0 (0.0%) | 5.19 | .02 | ||
| Total cholesterol (mg/dL) | 223.08 | (46.86) | 224.15 | (35.33) | .11 | .91 |
| Triglycerides (mg/dL) | 166.23 | (99.94) | 151.32 | (64.45) | .82 | .42 |
| Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 140.21 | (20.19) | 138.18 | (20.50) | .45 | .65 |
| Diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 79.26 | (10.88) | 81.44 | (9.30) | .96 | .34 |
| Taking antihypertensive medication | 17 (34.00%) | 8 (23.53%) | 1.06 | .30 | ||
| Casual glucose (mg/dL) | 98.82 | (34.38) | 94.00 | (19.72) | .74 | .46 |
| BMI | 24.13 | (3.71) | 24.01 | (4.17) | .14 | .89 |
| Aggregate Vascular Risk Profile* | 5.54 | .14 | ||||
| No elevated risk factors | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | ||||
| ≥1 Mildly elevated risk factor | 2 (4.00%) | 1 (2.94%) | ||||
| ≥1 Moderately-to-severely elevated risk factor | 9 (18.00%) | 10 (29.41%) | ||||
| 1 Major risk factor | 15 (30.00%) | 15 (44.12%) | ||||
| ≥2 Major risk factors | 24 (48.00%) | 8 (23.53%) | ||||
| Aggregate vascular risk (low/high)† | 26/24 | 26/8 | 5.14 | .02 | ||
| Vascular Risk Factor Sum Score‡ | ||||||
| One or more risk factor(s) | 44 (88.00%) | 26 (76.47%) | 1.94 | .16 | ||
| Two or more risk factors | 30 (60.00%) | 11 (32.35%) | 6.19 | .01 | ||
| Three or more risk factors | 16 (32.00%) | 4 (11.76%) | 4.57 | .03 | ||
| Neuropathology | ||||||
| Braak and Braak stage (low/high) | 20/30 | 5/29 | 6.19 | .01 | ||
| CAA (absent/present) § | 11/39 | 4/29 | 1.31 | .25 | ||
Participants were classified into five mutually exclusive categories depending on whether they had (1) no risk factors above threshold levels (total cholesterol<180 mg/dL; untreated systolic blood pressure<120 mm Hg; untreated diastolic blood pressure<80 mm Hg; no history of stroke/TIA, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or atrial fibrillation; and nonsmoker), (2) ≥1 risk factor at mildly elevated levels (total cholesterol 180–199 mg/dL; untreated systolic blood pressure 120–139 mm Hg or untreated diastolic blood pressure 80–89 mm Hg; no history of stroke/TIA, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or atrial fibrillation; and nonsmoker), (3) ≥1 moderately-to-severely elevated risk factor(s) (total cholesterol 200–239 mg/dL; untreated systolic blood pressure 140–159 mm Hg or untreated diastolic blood pressure 90–99 mm Hg; no history of stroke/TIA, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or atrial fibrillation; and nonsmoker), (4) 1 major risk factor only (total cholesterol ≥240 mg/dL; treated hypertension, untreated systolic blood pressure ≥160 mm Hg, or untreated diastolic blood pressure ≥100 mm Hg; history of stroke/TIA, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or atrial fibrillation; or current smoker), or (5) ≥2 major risk factors.
Aggregate vascular risk burden classified as Low (≥1 mildly elevated risk factor, ≥1 moderately-to-severely elevated risk factor(s), or 1 major risk factor only) or High (≥2 major risk factors)
Vascular risk sum score is based on the presence or absence of the following seven risk factors: high total cholesterol, hypertension, history of TIA/stroke, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, atrial fibrillation, and current smoking
cerebral amyloid angiopathy was not assessed for one participant
Abbreviations: TIA = transient ischemic attack; BMI = body mass index; CAA = cerebral amyloid angiopathy