Carotid Artery Stiffness Accurately Predicts White Matter Hyperintensity Volume 20 Years Later: A Secondary Analysis of the Atherosclerosis Risk in the Community Study.

Sonography measurements of carotid artery stiffness are predictive of white matter hyperintensity volume and total brain volume on MR imaging more than 20 years later. The association is more robust for white matter hyperintensity volume than total brain volume. These findings support the role of arterial stiffness as a method for identifying patients at risk of developing white matter hyperintensity volume and as a potential mechanism leading to small-artery disease of the brain.