Associations of deep medullary veins with vascular risk factors, laboratory indicators, and cerebral small vessel disease: A population-based study

Objective: Deep medullary veins (DMVs) were not considered a typical marker of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) due to limited understanding of their involvement in pathology of CSVD. This study aimsto investigate potential vascular risk factors for DMVs and their associations with CSVD. Methods: In total, 1909 community-dwelling participants were included in this analysis. Demographic, clinical, laboratory, and imaging data were collected. DMV scores (0–18) werecalculated as the sum of bilateral frontal, parietal, and occipital regional scores using a semiquantitative visual scale (0–3). The presence, total burden, and imaging markers of CSVD were assessed. Linear regression analyses were conducted to explore potential vascular factors for DMV scores. Binary and ordinal logistic regression analyses were performed to investigate the associations of DMV scores with CSVD and its markers. Results: Mean age was 61.8 (SD 6.5) years, and 1027 (53.8%) of participants were men. The median DMV scores were14 (IQR 12–16). DMV scores wererelated to age, male sex, body mass index, diastolic blood pressure, hypercholesterolaemia, atrial fibrillation, current drinking, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein, hemoglobin A1c, leukocytes, lymphocytes, hemoglobin, and platelets (p <.05). DMV scores wereassociated with the presence and total burden of CSVD (Rothwell's scale), modified white matter hyperintensity burden, and enlarged perivascular spaces in centrum semiovale (p <.05). However, these associations between DMV scores and CSVD disappeared after adjusting for potential confounders. Conclusion: Several conventional vascular factors were associated with DMVs. The relationship between DMVs and CSVD was vulnerable, suggesting decreased visible and discontinuous DMVs may differ mechanistically from traditional markers of CSVD.