Mild cognitive impairment with Lewy bodies: blood perfusion with arterial spin labelling

Objective To use arterial spin labelling to investigate differences in perfusion in mild cognitive impairment with Lewy bodies (MCI-LB) compared to Alzheimer type MCI (MCI-AD) and healthy controls. Methods We obtained perfusion images on 32 MCI-LB, 30 MCI-AD and 28 healthy subjects of similar age. Perfusion relative to cerebellum was calculated, and we aimed to examine differences in relative perfusion between MCI-LB and the other groups. This included whole brain voxelwise comparisons, as well as using predefined region-of-interest ratios of medial occipital to medial temporal, and posterior cingulate to precuneus. Differences in occipital perfusion in eyes open vs eyes closed conditions were also examined. Results Compared to controls, the MCI-LB showed reduced perfusion in the precuneus, parietal, occipital and fusiform gyrus regions. In our predefined regions, the ratio of perfusion in occipital/medial temporal was significantly lower, and the posterior cingulate/precuneus ratio was significantly higher in MCI-LB compared to controls. Overall, the occipital perfusion was greater in the eyes open vs closed condition, but this did not differ between groups. Conclusion We found patterns of altered perfusion in MCI-LB which are similar to those seen in dementia with Lewy bodies, with reduction in posterior parietal and occipital regions, but relatively preserved posterior cingulate.