Cerebral microbleeds and age-related macular degeneration: the AGES-Reykjavik Study.

• Published in: Neurobiology of Aging
• Main Authors: Qiu, Chengxuan, Cotch, Mary Frances, Sigurdsson, Sigurdur, Eiriksdottir, Gudny, Jonasson, Fridbert, Klein, Ronald, Klein, Barbara E K, Harris, Tamara B, van Buchem, Mark A, Gudnason, Vilmundur, Launer, Lenore J
• Other Authors: Laboratory of Epidemiology, Demography, and Biometry, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Science 2013
• Subjects: Aged; Amyloid beta-Peptides; Cerebral Hemorrhage; Environment; Female; Geographic Atrophy; Humans; Iceland; Macular Degeneration; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Statistics as Topic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/301247; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2012.01.012

To access publisher's full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field. We test the hypothesis that cerebral microbleeds (CMB) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), both linked to amyloid-β deposition, are correlated. This study includes 4205 participants (mean age 76.2; 57.8% women) in the Age, Gene/Environment Susceptibility (AGES)-Reykjavik Study (2002-2006). CMB were assessed from magnetic resonance images, and AMD was assessed using digital retinal images. Data were analyzed with multinomial logistic models controlling for major confounders. Evidence of CMB was detected in 476 persons (272 with strict lobar CMB and 204 with nonlobar CMB). AMD was detected in 1098 persons (869 with early AMD, 140 with exudative AMD, and 89 with pure geographic atrophy). Early and exudative AMD were not associated with CMB. The adjusted odds ratio of pure geographic atrophy was 1.62 (95% confidence interval 0.93-2.82, p = 0.089) for having any CMB, 1.43 (0.66-3.06, p = 0.363) for strict lobar CMB, and 1.85 (0.89-3.87, p = 0.100) for nonlobar CMB. This study provides no evidence that amyloid deposits in the brain and AMD are correlated. However, the suggestive association of geographic atrophy with CMB warrants further investigation. NIH N01-AG-12100 National Institute on Aging National Eye Institute, USA ZIAEY000401 Icelandic Heart Association Icelandic Parliament, Iceland Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research Swedish Research Council for Medical Research Karolinska Institutet, Sweden