Perivascular Spaces Are Associated with Atherosclerosis: An Insight from the Northern Manhattan Study

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Fig 1.
A, Multiple hyperintensities appear in both caudate heads and the corona radiata white matter tracts, suggestive of perivascular spaces. B, Small voids (hypointensities) can be observed in the lateral margins of both putamina. C, Example of multiple perivascular spaces high in the medial frontal convexity. D, A small perivascular space is observed in the pons.
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Fig 2.
Division used to score perivascular spaces by anatomic regions. R indicates right; L, left; A, anterior; P, posterior; F, frontal; T, temporal; P, parietal; O, occipital; CE, cerebellum; BS, brain stem.
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Fig 3.
Distribution of PVS scores in the studied sample.

Table 1:

Characteristics of the studied sample compared with the NOMAS MRI subsample

	NOMAS MRI Study Included Sample (n = 706)	NOMAS MRI Study Excluded Sample (n = 585)	P Value^a
Age (yr)	71.6 ± 8.0	69.4 ± 9.9	<.01
Female sex (%)	60.4	60.5	.95
Ethnicity (%)
Non-Hispanic white	15.9	13.5	<.01
Non-Hispanic black	20.3	13.7
Hispanic	61.1	71.1
Hypertension (%)	68.5	64.6	.15
Diabetes (%)	18.9	20.0	.61
Hypercholesterolemia (%)	56.6	63.2	.02
Current smoking (%)	15.9	16.2	.86
Previous cardiac disease (%)	16.3	16.9	.77
Carotid plaque (%)	55.0	55.5	.85
Perivascular spaces score
Mean	5.0	Not applicable	Not applicable
Median	4.0
25th percentile	2.0
50th percentile	4.0
75th percentile	7.0

Note:—NOMAS indicates the Northern Manhattan Study.
↵a Two-tailed t test was used to obtain P values for age differences, while the χ² test was used for all other comparisons.

Table 2:

Adjusted β coefficients^a of predictors of the overall perivascular space scores and by anatomic regions

	Overall Score		Perivascular Space Score by Anatomic Region
	Overall Score		Subcortical White Matter		Basal Ganglia		Infratentorial
	β Coefficient	P Value	β Coefficient	P Value	β Coefficient	P Value	β Coefficient	P Value
Age	0.01	.02	0.008	.15	0.01	.02	0.02	.19
Male sex	−0.11	.12	−0.21	.01	0.05	.52	−0.35	.08
Race
White	Ref		Ref		Ref		Ref
Black	0.004	.96	0.11	.37	−0.07	.51	−0.47	.12
Hispanic	−0.11	.17	−0.06	.57	−0.15	.10	−0.20	.40
Body mass index	−0.004	.53	−0.004	.61	−0.003	.64	−0.008	.63
Smoking
Never	Ref		Ref		Ref		Ref
Former	0.02	.35	0.05	.55	−0.05	.52	0.35	.07
Current	0.08	.78	0.14	.20	−0.04	.61	0.76	.001
Hypertension	0.17	.01	0.11	.20	0.20	.02	0.59	.008
Antihypertensive medications	−0.11	.09	−0.13	.13	−0.09	.24	−0.28	.24
Diabetes	0.03	.71	0.06	.51	−0.003	.96	−0.04	.88
Hypoglycemic medications	−0.18	.19	−0.19	.10	−0.03	.79	−0.31	.40
Hypercholesterolemia	−0.12	.21	0.01	.93	−0.14	.02	−0.16	.38
Cholesterol-lowering medications	−0.24	.02	−0.22	.08	−0.22	.08	−0.76	.04
History of cardiac disease	0.07	.32	−0.02	.81	0.15	.05	0.26	.23
Carotid plaque	0.22	<.001	0.29	<.001	0.16	0.02	0.22	.21

Note:—Ref indicates reference group.
↵a Coefficients were adjusted for all other demographic variables plus medications to treat hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia.