We determined the occurrence and association of cortical cerebral microinfarcts (CMIs) at 7 T MRI with risk factors, neuroimaging markers of small and large vessel disease, and cognitive functioning. Within the Medea-7T study, a diverse cohort of older persons with normal cognition, patients with vascular disease, and memory clinic patients, we included 386 participants (68 ± 9 years) with available 7 T and 1.5 T/3T brain MRI, and risk factor and neuropsychological data. CMIs were found in 10% of participants and were associated with older age (RR = 1.79 per +10 years, 95%CI 1.28–2.50), history of stroke or TIA (RR = 4.03, 95%CI 2.18–7.43), cortical infarcts (RR = 5.28, 95%CI 2.91–9.55), lacunes (RR = 5.66, 95%CI 2.85–11.27), cerebellar infarcts (RR = 2.73, 95%CI 1.27–5.84) and decreased cerebral blood flow (RR = 1.35 per −100 ml/min, 95%CI 1.00–1.83), after adjustment for age and sex. Furthermore, participants with >2 CMIs had 0.5 SD (95%CI 0.05–0.91) lower global cognitive performance, compared to participants without CMIs. Our results indicate that CMIs on 7 T MRI are observed in vascular and memory clinic patients with similar frequency, and are associated with older age, history of stroke or TIA, other brain infarcts, and poorer global cognitive functioning.

我们通过 7 T MRI 确定了皮质脑微梗塞 (CMI) 的发生及其与危险因素、小血管和大血管疾病的神经影像标记物以及认知功能的关联。 Medea-7T 研究是一个由认知正常的老年人、血管疾病患者和记忆诊所患者组成的多元化队列，我们​​纳入了 386 名参与者（68 ± 9 岁），他们拥有可用的 7 T 和 1.5 T/3T 脑部 MRI，并且危险因素和神经心理学数据。 10% 的参与者发现 CMI，且与年龄较大（RR = 1.79 每+10 年，95%CI 1.28–2.50）、中风或 TIA 病史（RR = 4.03，95%CI 2.18–7.43）、皮质相关梗塞（RR = 5.28，95%CI 2.91–9.55）、腔隙（RR = 5.66，95%CI 2.85–11.27）、小脑梗塞（RR = 2.73，95%CI 1.27–5.84）和脑血流量减少（RR =调整年龄和性别后，每 -100 毫升/分钟 1.35，95%CI 1.00–1.83）。此外，与没有 CMI 的参与者相比，具有 >2 CMI 的参与者的整体认知表现低 0.5 SD (95% CI 0.05–0.91)。我们的结果表明，7 T MRI 上的 CMI 在血管和记忆诊所患者中观察到的频率相似，并且与年龄较大、中风或 TIA 病史、其他脑梗塞以及较差的整体认知功能相关。