A priori collaboration in population imaging: The Uniform Neuro-Imaging of Virchow-Robin Spaces Enlargement consortium

Hieab H H Adams; Saima Hilal; Petra Schwingenschuh; Katharina Wittfeld; Sven J van der Lee; Charles DeCarli; Meike W Vernooij; Petra Katschnig-Winter; Mohamad Habes; Christopher Chen; Sudha Seshadri; Cornelia M van Duijn; M Kamran Ikram; Hans J Grabe; Reinhold Schmidt; M Arfan Ikram

doi:10.1016/j.dadm.2015.10.004

A priori collaboration in population imaging: The Uniform Neuro-Imaging of Virchow-Robin Spaces Enlargement consortium

Alzheimers Dement (Amst). 2015 Oct 31;1(4):513-20. doi: 10.1016/j.dadm.2015.10.004. eCollection 2015 Dec.

Authors

Hieab H H Adams¹, Saima Hilal², Petra Schwingenschuh³, Katharina Wittfeld⁴, Sven J van der Lee⁵, Charles DeCarli⁶, Meike W Vernooij¹, Petra Katschnig-Winter³, Mohamad Habes⁷, Christopher Chen⁸, Sudha Seshadri⁹, Cornelia M van Duijn⁵, M Kamran Ikram², Hans J Grabe¹⁰, Reinhold Schmidt³, M Arfan Ikram¹¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Radiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
² Department of Ophthalmology, National University of Singapore, Singapore; Memory Aging and Cognition Center, National University Health System, Singapore.
³ Department of Neurology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
⁴ German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Site Rostock/ Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
⁵ Genetic Epidemiology Unit, Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
⁶ Imaging of Dementia and Aging (IDeA) Laboratory, Department of Neurology and Center for Neuroscience, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA, USA.
⁷ Institute for Community Medicine, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany; Section of Biomedical Image Analysis, Department of Radiology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
⁸ Memory Aging and Cognition Center, National University Health System, Singapore.
⁹ Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA; Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, MA, USA.
¹⁰ German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Site Rostock/ Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
¹¹ Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Radiology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Department of Neurology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Introduction: Virchow-Robin spaces (VRS), or perivascular spaces, are compartments of interstitial fluid enclosing cerebral blood vessels and are potential imaging markers of various underlying brain pathologies. Despite a growing interest in the study of enlarged VRS, the heterogeneity in rating and quantification methods combined with small sample sizes have so far hampered advancement in the field.

Methods: The Uniform Neuro-Imaging of Virchow-Robin Spaces Enlargement (UNIVRSE) consortium was established with primary aims to harmonize rating and analysis (www.uconsortium.org). The UNIVRSE consortium brings together 13 (sub)cohorts from five countries, totaling 16,000 subjects and over 25,000 scans. Eight different magnetic resonance imaging protocols were used in the consortium.

Results: VRS rating was harmonized using a validated protocol that was developed by the two founding members, with high reliability independent of scanner type, rater experience, or concomitant brain pathology. Initial analyses revealed risk factors for enlarged VRS including increased age, sex, high blood pressure, brain infarcts, and white matter lesions, but this varied by brain region.

Discussion: Early collaborative efforts between cohort studies with respect to data harmonization and joint analyses can advance the field of population (neuro)imaging. The UNIVRSE consortium will focus efforts on other potential correlates of enlarged VRS, including genetics, cognition, stroke, and dementia.

Keywords: Cerebrovascular disease; Dementia; Magnetic resonance imaging; Population based; Population imaging; Risk factors; Stroke; Virchow-Robin spaces.