Multiple or mixed cerebral microbleeds and dementia in patients with vascular risk factors
Miwa K, Tanaka M, Okazaki S, Yagita Y, Sakaguchi M, Mochizuki H, Kitagawa K.. Neurology, 2014-07-11
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Objective To investigate whether cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) are independently associated with incident dementia in patients with vascular risk factors. Methods Using data from a Japanese cohort of participants with vascular risk factors in an observational study from 2001, we evaluated the association between CMBs at baseline and incident dementia. Baseline brain MRI was used to determine small-vessel disease (CMBs, lacunar infarcts, and white matter hyperintensities) and brain atrophy. Cox proportional hazards analyses were performed for predictors of dementia adjusting for age, sex, APOE ε4 allele, educational level, baseline Mini-Mental State Examination score, cerebrovascular events, vascular risk factors, and MRI findings. Results Of the 524 subjects (mean age 68 ± 8.3 years, 57.6% male, 12.8 ± 2.6 years of schooling, 21.6% CMBs), 44 patients with incident dementia (20 Alzheimer disease, 18 vascular dementia, 3 mixed-type, and 3 other) were diagnosed during the median 7.5-year follow-up. In multivariate analysis, the presence of overall CMBs was not associated with an increased risk of incident all-cause dementia (p = 0.15). However, multiple CMBs (≥ 2) or mixed (lobar and deep) CMBs were associated with the increased risk of all-cause dementia, whereas strictly lobar CMBs showed no association with any dementia. Conclusions Multiple CMBs or mixed CMBs independently showed higher risk of all-cause dementia. Our results reinforce the hypothesis that CMBs exert deleterious effects on dementia incidence, suggesting that this association may be mediated by vascular burden.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Miwa, K., Tanaka, M., Okazaki, S., Yagita, Y., Sakaguchi, M., Mochizuki, H., et al. (2014). Multiple or mixed cerebral microbleeds and dementia in patients with vascular risk factors. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000000692
Vancouver
Miwa K, Tanaka M, Okazaki S, Yagita Y, Sakaguchi M, Mochizuki H, et al. Multiple or mixed cerebral microbleeds and dementia in patients with vascular risk factors. Neurology. 2014. doi:10.1212/wnl.0000000000000692. PMID: 25015364.
BibTeX
@article{miwa2014-25015364,
author = {Miwa, K. and Tanaka, M. and Okazaki, S. and Yagita, Y. and Sakaguchi, M. and Mochizuki, H. and Kitagawa, K.},
title = {{Multiple or mixed cerebral microbleeds and dementia in patients with vascular risk factors}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2014},
doi = {10.1212/wnl.0000000000000692},
pmid = {25015364},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000000692}
}
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
- Objective To investigate whether cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) are independently associated with incident dementia in patients with vascular risk factors.
- Results Of the 524 subjects (mean age 68 ± 8.3 years, 57.6% male, 12.8 ± 2.6 years of schooling, 21.6% CMBs), 44 patients with incident dementia (20 Alzheimer disease, 18 vascular dementia, 3 mixed-type, and 3 other) were diagnosed during the median 7.5-year follow-up.
- In multivariate analysis, the presence of overall CMBs was not associated with an increased risk of incident all-cause dementia (p = 0.15).
- However, multiple CMBs (≥ 2) or mixed (lobar and deep) CMBs were associated with the increased risk of all-cause dementia, whereas strictly lobar CMBs showed no association with any dementia.
- Conclusions Multiple CMBs or mixed CMBs independently showed higher risk of all-cause dementia.
Why it matters
In this cohort of people with vascular risk factors, having multiple or mixed cerebral microbleeds was linked to a higher risk of later dementia, while overall microbleeds or strictly lobar microbleeds were not. This is an observational finding and does not show that treating microbleeds prevents dementia.
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Study details
- Participants524
- Effect size57.6%; 21.6%
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 54/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Neurology: journal h-index 525 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2014 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 524 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 4 / 7 | Cited 86 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 6.1 citations a year over 14 year(s) since 2014 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 8.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 6 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 4 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Kazuo Kitagawa: h-index 72 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | The University of Osaka: institution h-index 1,138 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 25015364) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 54 / 100 | — |
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