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These authors studied the long-term survival of community-dwelling elderly people with white matter hyperintensities (WMH) on MRI, but without histories of stroke. Previous studies showed that WMH are associated with increased mortality in people with histories of stroke.
The investigators followed 108 subjects over age 75 who were also free of significant cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and dementia at baseline. On MRI, 36 had no WMH, 36 had grade I WMH (mild-to-moderate and nonconfluent), and 36 had grade II WMH (severe and confluent). The three groups were matched according to age and sex.
During a median follow-up of 11.8 years, grade II WMH doubled the likelihood of death relative to no WMH (hazard ratio, 1.98; 95% confidenc…