FIGURE 2.

Effect of mild traumatic brain injury on the development and characteristics of cerebral microbleeds in the elderly. (A) Mean number of CMBs in young control (Y) patients (n = 20, age: 25.09 ± 5.63 years), young patients after an mBTI (Y + mTBI) (n = 17, age: 24.65 ± 10.22 years), aged control patients (A) (n = 23, age: 68.36 ± 4.88 years), and aged patients with mTBIs (A + mTBI, n = 17, age: 71.86 ± 7.31 years). Data are mean ± SEM, ^∗P < 0.05 vs. YC, ns: non-significant. (B) Number of patients with CMBs in the studied groups is expressed as the percent of the total number of patients in each group [young control (Y) patients (n = 20, age: 25.09 ± 5.63 years), young patients after mBTIs (Y + mTBI) (n = 17, age: 24.65 ± 10.22 years), aged control patients (A) (n = 23, age: 68.36 ± 4.88), and aged patients with mTBIs (A + mTBI) (n = 17, age: 71.86 ± 7.31 years)]. ^∗P < 0.05 vs. YC. Panel (C) depicts the localization of CMBs in each group as number of lobar, deep-seated (basal ganglion), and infratentorial CMBs expressed as the percent (%) of the total number of CMBs. Note that the majority of CMBs can be found supratentorially (lobar and basal ganglion); however, a small number of microbleeds appear in the infratentorial location in aged patients after an mTBI. The difference did not reach statistical significance. (D) Lobar distribution of supratentorial CMBs in each studied group of patients (frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital). Please note that aging enhances the number of parietal and occipital CMBs after an mTBI (P < 0.05 vs. Y + mTBI), and that an mTBI leads to the formation of more CMBs in the frontal, parietal, and occipital lobes in aging (P < 0.05 vs. A). (Y): n = 20, 10 females, 10 males, age: 25.09 ± 5.63 years; young + mTBI (Y + mTBI): n = 17, 11 females, 6 males, age: 24.65 ± 10.22 years; aged (A): n = 23, 16 females, 7 males, age: 68.36 ± 4.88 years; aged + mTBI (A + mTBI): n = 17, 9 females, 8 males, age: 71.86 ± 7.31 years.