Objective The Circle of Willis (CoW) is often underdeveloped or incomplete, leading to suboptimal blood supply to the brain. As hypoperfusion is thought to play a role in the aetiology of white matter hyperintensities (WMH), the objective of this study was to assess whether incomplete CoW variants were associated with increased WMH volumes compared to the complete CoW. Methods In a cross-sectional population sample of 1864 people (age 40 - 84 years, 46.4% men), we used an automated method to segment WMH using T1-weighted and T2-weighted fluid-attenuated inversion recovery image obtained at 3T. CoW variants were classified from time-of-flight scans, also at 3T. WMH risk factors, including age, sex, smoking and blood pressure, were obtained from questionnaires and clinical examinations. We used linear regression to examine whether people with incomplete CoW variants had greater volumes of deep WMH (DWMH) and periventricular WMH (PWMH) compared to people with the complete CoW, correcting for WMH risk factors. Results Participants with incomplete CoW variants did not have significantly higher DWMH or PWMH volumes than those with complete CoW when accounting for risk factors. Age, pack-years smoking, and systolic blood pressure were risk factors for increased DWMH and PWMH volume. Diabetes was a unique risk factor for increased PWMH volume. Conclusion Incomplete CoW variants do not appear to be risk factors for WMH in the general population.

中文翻译：

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Tromsø研究表明，不完整的Willis环并不是白质高信号的危险因素。

目的威利斯环（CoW）通常不发达或不完整，导致大脑血液供应不足。由于认为灌注不足在白质高信号血症（WMH）的病因中起作用，因此本研究的目的是评估与完整CoW相比，不完整的CoW变异是否与WMH量增加有关。方法在1864人（年龄40-84岁，男性46.4％）的横断面人群样本中，我们使用自动方法对WMH进行了分割，该方法使用了在3T获得的T1加权和T2加权流体衰减反演恢复图像。CoW变体是从飞行时间扫描（也是3T）中分类的。WMH危险因素，包括年龄，性别，吸烟和血压，是通过问卷调查和临床检查获得的。我们使用线性回归来检验具有完整CoW变异的人是否比具有完整CoW的人具有更大的深WMH（DWMH）和脑室WMH（PWMH）量，以校正WMH危险因素。结果考虑到风险因素，具有不完整CoW变异的参与者的DWMH或PWMH量没有比具有完整CoW的参与者高得多。年龄，吸烟年龄，吸烟和收缩压是DWMH和PWMH量增加的危险因素。糖尿病是增加PWMH量的独特危险因素。结论不完整的CoW变异似乎并不是普通人群WMH的危险因素。结果考虑到风险因素，具有不完整CoW变异的参与者的DWMH或PWMH量没有比具有完整CoW的参与者高得多。年龄，吸烟年龄，吸烟和收缩压是DWMH和PWMH量增加的危险因素。糖尿病是增加PWMH量的独特危险因素。结论不完整的CoW变异似乎并不是普通人群WMH的危险因素。结果考虑到风险因素，具有不完整CoW变异的参与者的DWMH或PWMH量没有比具有完整CoW的参与者高得多。年龄，吸烟年龄，吸烟和收缩压是DWMH和PWMH量增加的危险因素。糖尿病是增加PWMH量的独特危险因素。结论不完整的CoW变异似乎并不是普通人群WMH的危险因素。