Cardiac and Carotid Markers Link With Accelerated Brain Atrophy

Objective— Pathologies in the heart–brain axis might, independently or in combination, accelerate the process of brain parenchymal loss. We aimed to investigate the association of serum N-terminal brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), as a marker of cardiac dysfunction, and carotid intima media thickness (CIMT), as a marker of carotid atherosclerosis burden, with structural brain changes. Approach and Results— In the longitudinal...