Left ventricular dysfunction is associated with cerebral grey matter injury: An in-vivo brain MRI segmentation study

Background and purpose: Patients with heart failure often experience cognitive deficits. The relationship between systolic function and cerebral gray matter injury is unclear. Methods: An automated program SIENAX (v2.2) was used to extract brain volume and for segmentation of grey and white matter in subjects with low left ventricular ejection fraction (<50%) and normal ejection fraction (>= 50%). T1-weighted spin-echo axial sequences were used for analysis. Results: 14 cases with low left ventricular ejection fraction and 14 age-matched controls were evaluated. A modest correlation between grey matter volume and low left ventricular ejection fraction was demonstrated (r = 0.51, p = 0.06), not seen with white matter volumes. The mean grey matter volume was 507.4 +/- 166.3 ml in the low left ventricular ejection fraction group and 541.3 +/- 167.2 ml in the control group (p = 0.57). Conclusion: Low left ventricular ejection fraction may lead to cerebral grey matter injury. Larger studies including multi-modal MRI and neuropsychological assessments are warranted to explore potential mechanisms. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.