Student Presenter(s): Isabella Romano, Joseph Aabye, Olivia Ballone, Nicholas Weeks, and Kelly Borges
Faculty Mentor: Olga V. Savinova
School/College: Osteopathic Medicine, Old Westbury

Vascular calcification (VC), both a common age-related phenomenon and a consequence of atherosclerosis, is an independent predictor of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. While coronary VC results in impaired vasomotor response and reduced myocardial perfusion, less is known about the effects of VC in cerebral microcirculation. We aimed to (1) determine the prevalence and (2) quantify calcification volume throughout brain regions in which VC has been noted in case studies. In a cohort of human donor cadavers with and without dementia documented at time of death, tissue was sampled from five brain regions. Samples were scanned by micro-CT, segmented, and thresholded. Calcification volume was defined as voxel quantity meeting/exceeding 130 HU, and volume exceeding 1x10^6 µm^³ per ROI was considered “positive”. Findings were confirmed by histology. All subjects exhibited parenchymal and/or VC in at least one region, indicating that intracranial calcification is more prevalent than published estimates. We noted regional differences within and between groups; consistent with the literature, VC was most prevalent in globus pallidus. Prevalence of hippocampal and posterior cingulate calcification was significantly greater in subjects with dementia (n=6) compared to age-matched subjects