2001-2011: A Decade of the LADIS (Leukoaraiosis And DISability) Study: What Have We Learned about White Matter Changes and Small-Vessel Disease?

TY - JOUR

T1 - 2001-2011

T2 - A Decade of the LADIS (Leukoaraiosis And DISability) Study: What Have We Learned about White Matter Changes and Small-Vessel Disease?

AU - Poggesi, Anna

AU - Pantoni, Leonardo

AU - Inzitari, Domenico

AU - Fazekas, Franz

AU - Ferro, Josè

AU - O'Brien, John

AU - Hennerici, Michael

AU - Scheltens, Philip

AU - Erkinjuntti, Timo

AU - Visser, Marieke

AU - Langhorne, Peter

AU - Chabriat, Hugues

AU - Waldemar, Gunhild

AU - Wallin, Anders

AU - Wahlund, Anders

AU - The LADIS Study Group

N1 - Copyright © 2011 S. Karger AG, Basel.

PY - 2011/12

Y1 - 2011/12

N2 - Over the last 20 years, evidence about the clinical correlates of cerebral white matter changes (WMC; also called leukoaraiosis) has been accumulating. WMC are now listed among the neuroimaging expressions of cerebral small-vessel disease and are no longer considered an innocuous finding because they are associated, in cross-sectional surveys, with various disturbances and, in follow-up studies, with poor prognosis. The Leukoaraiosis And DISability (LADIS) study has contributed substantially to this body of knowledge. LADIS is a European multicenter collaboration that was started in 2001 with the aim of assessing the independent role of WMC in predicting disability in subjects aged 65-84. The main results of the LADIS study have been released in 2009 with the demonstration that severe WMC more than double the risk of transition from an autonomous to a dependent status after 3 years of follow-up. The LADIS study has also contributed more focused substudies assessing the possible role of WMC in the decline of cognitive and motor performances, depressive symptoms associated with aging and cerebrovascular diseases, urinary disturbances, and also the role of other brain lesions (lacunar infarcts, cerebral atrophy, and corpus callosum morphology). The LADIS study provides a good example of harmonization of instruments (MRI protocol, clinical, neuropsychological, and functional scales) within an international collaboration. Currently, the LADIS study is providing data about the natural history of WMC. In this paper, we review the background and the main results of the LADIS study. This review puts forward some considerations for future studies in the field.

AB - Over the last 20 years, evidence about the clinical correlates of cerebral white matter changes (WMC; also called leukoaraiosis) has been accumulating. WMC are now listed among the neuroimaging expressions of cerebral small-vessel disease and are no longer considered an innocuous finding because they are associated, in cross-sectional surveys, with various disturbances and, in follow-up studies, with poor prognosis. The Leukoaraiosis And DISability (LADIS) study has contributed substantially to this body of knowledge. LADIS is a European multicenter collaboration that was started in 2001 with the aim of assessing the independent role of WMC in predicting disability in subjects aged 65-84. The main results of the LADIS study have been released in 2009 with the demonstration that severe WMC more than double the risk of transition from an autonomous to a dependent status after 3 years of follow-up. The LADIS study has also contributed more focused substudies assessing the possible role of WMC in the decline of cognitive and motor performances, depressive symptoms associated with aging and cerebrovascular diseases, urinary disturbances, and also the role of other brain lesions (lacunar infarcts, cerebral atrophy, and corpus callosum morphology). The LADIS study provides a good example of harmonization of instruments (MRI protocol, clinical, neuropsychological, and functional scales) within an international collaboration. Currently, the LADIS study is providing data about the natural history of WMC. In this paper, we review the background and the main results of the LADIS study. This review puts forward some considerations for future studies in the field.

U2 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000334498

DO - http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000334498

M3 - Journal article

SN - 1015-9770

VL - 32

SP - 577

EP - 588

JO - Cerebrovascular Diseases

JF - Cerebrovascular Diseases

IS - 6

ER -