Elevated hemoglobin is independently associated with enlarged perivascular spaces in the central semiovale

Enlarged perivascular spaces (EPVS) are widely considered as a feature of cerebral small vessel diseases (SVD), but its underlying pathology is still under active investigation. The aim of this study was to explore the association between hemoglobin level and the severity of EPVS. Consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke who underwent baseline MRI scan and hemoglobin testing were evaluated. EPVS in basal ganglia (BG) and central semiovale (CS) were rated with a validated 4-point semiquantitative scale (0 = none; 1 = 1–10; 2 = 11–20; 3 = 21–40; and 4 ≥ 40). Bivariate logistic regression models were used to identify the associations of hemoglobin with predefined high-degree (score > 1) CS-EPVS and BG-EPVS. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to analyze the associations between hemoglobin and CS-/BG-EPVS predominance patterns. A total of 401 patients were included in the final analysis, 94 patients (23.4%) had a high degree of CS-EPVS and 45 patients (11.2%) had a high degree of BG-EPVS. Compared with tertile 1 of hemoglobin, tertile 3 of hemoglobin was independently associated with high degree of CS-EPVS after adjusting for other features of SVD (odds ratio [OR] 2.399, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.315–4.379, P = 0.004) and potential confounding factors (OR 2.611, 95% CI 1.346–5.066, P = 0.005). In multinomial logistic regression models, compared with tertile 1 of hemoglobin, tertile 2 (OR 2.463, 95% CI 1.195–5.075, P = 0.015) and tertile 3 (OR 2.625, 95% CI 1.102–6.251, P = 0.029) of hemoglobin were associated with higher odds of BG-EPVS = CS-EPVS pattern, and tertile 3 of hemoglobin (OR 2.576, 95% CI 1.004–6.608, P = 0.049) was associated with higher odds of BG-EPVS < CS-EPVS pattern. Elevated hemoglobin level was independently associated with high degree of CS-EPVS and higher odds of CS-EPVS predominance pattern, but not with BG-EPVS, which support that the topography of EPVS is characteristic. However, the pathogenesis linking hemoglobin and CS-EPVS is unclear and still needs further investigation.