IMR Press / JIN / Volume 22 / Issue 4 / DOI: 10.31083/j.jin2204082
Open Access Original Research
Impact of Cerebral Microbleeds on Gait, Balance, and Upper Extremities Function in Cerebral Small Vessel Disease
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1 Department of Neurology, Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital, Capital Medical University, 100020 Beijing, China
*Correspondence: wenlihu3366@126.com (Wenli Hu)
J. Integr. Neurosci. 2023, 22(4), 82; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.jin2204082
Submitted: 2 September 2022 | Revised: 1 November 2022 | Accepted: 3 November 2022 | Published: 29 June 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Role of Imaging in the Diagnosis of Neurological Disease)
Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.
This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.
Abstract

Background and Purpose: White matter hyperintensites (WMHs) , lacunes and brain atrophy have been demonstrated to be positively related to gait disorder. However, cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) as a manifestation of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) is still under-investigated. Therefore, correlations between CMBs and upper extremity, gait and balance performance were investigated in this study. Methods: A cross-sectional study of middle-aged to older adults was conducted. CSVD burden was measured with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the location and number of CMBs were analysed. Gait and balance functions were evaluated using a four meter walkway, Tinetti, Timed-Up-and-Go (TUG) and Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) tests. Upper extremity function was measured by 10 repeated pronation-supination time, 10 repeated finger tapping time, and 10 repeated opening and closings of the hands. Results: A total of 224 participants were included in this study, with a mean age of 60.6 ± 10.5 years. The prevalence of CMB was 34.8% and most was lobar. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that CMB was associated with lower gait velocity, wider stride width, longer TUG test time, and poor performance on Tinetti and SPPB tests independently of other coexisting CSVD markers and risk factors. These relationships appeared to be explained by CMBs in the frontal, temporal, basal ganglia and infratentorial regions. The motor function of upper extremity also had independent correlations with CMBs especially in frontal, parietal, and temporal areas, and in the basal ganglia. Conclusions: CMBs were found to be associated with both gait, balance and upper extremity disturbances. The presence of CMB seems to be another major driving force for CSVD on lower and upper extremity impairment in healthy elderly subjects.

Keywords
cerebral small vessel disease
cerebral microbleed
gait
balance
upper extremities
motor disturbance
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