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63/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 63 out of 100. How common it is

Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models

White matter lesions are frequently found on cerebral MRI scans of elderly people and are thought to be important in the pathogenesis of dementia. Hyper tension has been associated with the presence of white matter lesions but this has been investigated almost exclusively in cross-sectional studies. We studied prospectively the association of these lesions with the duration and treatment of hypertension. We randomly sampled 1077 subjects aged between 60 and 90 years from two prospective population-based studies. One-half of the study subjects had their blood pressure measured between 1975 and 1978 and the other half between 1990 and 1993. All subjects underwent 1.5 T MRI scanning; white matter lesions in the subcortical and periventricular regions were rated separately. Subjects with hypertension had increased rates of both types of white matter lesion. Duration of hypertension was associated with both periventricular and subcortical white matter lesions. This relationship was influenced strongly by age. For participants with >20 years of hypertension and aged between 60 and 70 years at the time of follow-up, the relative risks for subcortical and periventricular white matter lesions were 24.3 [95% confidence interval (CI) 5.1-114.8] and 15.8 (95% CI 3.4-73.5), respectively, compared with normotensive subjects. Subjects with successfully treated hypertension had only moderately increased rates of subcortical white matter lesions and periventricular white matter lesions (relative risk 3.3, 95% CI 1.3-8.4 and 2.6, 95% CI 1.0-6.8, respectively) compared with normotensive subjects. For poorly controlled hypertensives, these relative risks were 8.4 (95% CI 3.1-22.6) and 5.8 (95% CI 2.1-16.0), respectively. In conclusion, we found a relationship between long-standing hypertension and the presence of white matter lesions. Our findings are consistent with the view that effective treatment may reduce the rates of both types of white matter lesion. Adequate treatment of hypertension may therefore prevent white matter lesions and the associated cognitive decline.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

de Leeuw, F. E., de Groot, J. C., Oudkerk, M., Witteman, J. C., Hofman, A., van Gijn, J., et al. (2002). Hypertension and cerebral white matter lesions in a prospective cohort study. Brain : a journal of neurology. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awf077

Vancouver

de Leeuw FE, de Groot JC, Oudkerk M, Witteman JC, Hofman A, van Gijn J, et al. Hypertension and cerebral white matter lesions in a prospective cohort study. Brain : a journal of neurology. 2002. doi:10.1093/brain/awf077. PMID: 11912110.

BibTeX

@article{deleeuw2002-11912110,
  author  = {de Leeuw, F. E. and de Groot, J. C. and Oudkerk, M. and Witteman, J. C. and Hofman, A. and van Gijn, J. and Breteler, M. M.},
  title   = {{Hypertension and cerebral white matter lesions in a prospective cohort study}},
  journal = {Brain : a journal of neurology},
  year    = {2002},
  doi     = {10.1093/brain/awf077},
  pmid    = {11912110},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awf077}
}

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

Key findings

Hyper tension has been associated with the presence of white matter lesions but this has been investigated almost exclusively in cross-sectional studies.
Duration of hypertension was associated with both periventricular and subcortical white matter lesions.
For participants with >20 years of hypertension and aged between 60 and 70 years at the time of follow-up, the relative risks for subcortical and periventricular white matter lesions were 24.3 [95% confidence interval (CI) 5.1-114.8] and 15.8 (95% CI 3.4-73.5), respectively, compared with normotensive subjects.
Subjects with successfully treated hypertension had only moderately increased rates of subcortical white matter lesions and periventricular white matter lesions (relative risk 3.3, 95% CI 1.3-8.4 and 2.6, 95% CI 1.0-6.8, respectively) compared with normotensive subjects.
In conclusion, we found a relationship between long-standing hypertension and the presence of white matter lesions.

Why it matters

People with high blood pressure, and especially those with long-lasting high blood pressure, had more white matter lesions on brain scans. This links high blood pressure to brain changes thought to matter in dementia, but it does not test whether treating blood pressure prevents dementia.

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Study details

Study designcross-sectional
Participants1,077
Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 63/100

Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for effect reported and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	9 / 10	Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Brain : a journal of neurology)
Journal's citation record	4 / 4	Brain: journal h-index 503 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	4 / 12	A snapshot of people at one point in time
Strength of evidence	1 / 5	Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	1 / 5	2002 — older than 20 years, still counted
Sample size	3 / 4	1,077 participants
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	3 / 3	Studied in people (participant count stated)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	6 / 7	Cited 599 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	4 / 5	23.0 citations a year over 26 year(s) since 2002
Impact for its field and year	4 / 6	Cited 12.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	3 / 6	Cited by 20 other studies in this library
Still being cited	3 / 4	Cited 50 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	4 / 4	Last-listed author Monique M.B. Breteler: h-index 162 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	1 / 3	Erasmus MC: institution h-index 1,321 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	1 / 3	OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 11912110)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	63 / 100	—

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