WHITE-MATTER HYPERINTENSITIES IN HEALTHY OLDER ADULTS - A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY

A 3-year longitudinal study was conducted using magnetic resonance ima ging (MRI) to determine the progression of white matter hyperintensiti es (WMH) and ventricle-to-brain ratio (VBR) in 16 healthy older adults . We found that, as a group, the subjects' WMH showed little progressi on over a 3-year period, but their VBR significantly increased during that same period of time. This increase occurred in healthy older adul ts who did not develop serious medical problems during the course of t he 3-year study. In two of the subjects, with the largest increases in both WMH and VBR, there was a change in their health status.