The burden of white matter hyperintensities is a predictor of progressive mild cognitive impairment in patients with Parkinson's disease

Background and purpose To evaluate whether white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) may act as an independent predictor for progression of cognitive status, the authors analyzed the longitudinal effects of WMHs on cognitive dysfunction in non‐demented patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Methods A total of 111 patients with PD were enrolled, including subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI, n = 65) and cognitively normal subjects (CN, n = 46). These individuals were classified as MCI converters (n = 22) or MCI non‐converters (n = 43) and CN converters (n = 18) or CN non‐converters (n = 28) based on whether they were subsequently diagnosed with PD dementia or PD‐MCI during a minimum 24‐month follow‐up. The WMH burden and the Cholinergic Pathway Hyperintensities Scale (CHIPS) and their relationships to longitudinal changes in cognitive performance were examined. Results PD‐MCI converters had larger WMH volume (14421.0 vs. 5180.4, P