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Disease Severity Staging System for NOTCH3-Associated Small Vessel Disease, Including CADASIL

Lookup NU author(s): Professor Raj KalariaORCiD

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).


Abstract

Importance: Typical cysteine-altering NOTCH3 (NOTCH3cys) variants are highly prevalent (approximately 1 in 300 individuals) and are associated with a broad spectrum of small vessel disease (SVD), ranging from early-onset stroke and dementia (cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy [CADASIL]) to nonpenetrance. A staging system that captures the full NOTCH3-SVD severity spectrum is needed and currently lacking. Objective: To design a simple disease severity staging system that captures the broad clinicoradiological NOTCH3-SVD severity spectrum. Design, Setting, and Participants: A cohort study was performed in which the NOTCH3-SVD severity staging system was developed using a discovery cohort (2019-2020) and validated in independent international CADASIL cohorts (1999-2023) and the UK Biobank. Clinical and imaging data were collected from participants originating from 23 international CADASIL cohorts and from the UK Biobank. Eligibility criteria were presence of a NOTCH3cys variant, availability of brain magnetic resonance imaging, and modified Rankin Scale score. The discovery cohort consisted of 195 NOTCH3cys-positive cases from families with CADASIL; the validation set included 1713 NOTCH3cys-positive cases from 15 countries. The UK Biobank cohort consisted of 101 NOTCH3cys-positive individuals. Data from 2-year (2019-2023) and 18-year (1999-2017) follow-up studies were also analyzed. Data analysis was performed from July 2023 to August 2024. Main Outcomes and Measures: Percentage of cases following the sequence of events of the NOTCH3-SVD stages, and the association between the stages and ischemic stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, global cognition, processing speed, brain volume, brain microstructural damage, and serum neurofilament light chain (NfL) level. Results: The NOTCH3-SVD staging system encompasses 9 disease stages or substages, ranging from stage 0 (premanifest stage) to stage 4B (end stage). Of all 1908 cases, which included 195 in the discovery cohort (mean [SD] age, 52.4 [12.2] years) and 1713 in the validation cohorts (mean [SD] age, 53.1 [13.0] years), 1789 (94%) followed the sequence of events defined by the NOTCH3-SVD staging system. The NOTCH3-SVD stages were associated with neuroimaging outcomes in the NOTCH3cys-positive cases in the CADASIL cohorts and in the UK Biobank and with cognitive outcomes and serum NfL level in cases from the CADASIL cohorts. The NOTCH3-SVD staging system captured disease progression and was associated with 18-year survival. Conclusions and Relevance: The NOTCH3-SVD staging system captures the full disease spectrum, from asymptomatic individuals with a NOTCH3cys variant to patients with end-stage disease. The NOTCH3-SVD staging system is a simple but effective tool for uniform disease staging in the clinic and in research.


Publication metadata

Author(s): Gravesteijn G, Rutten JW, Cerfontaine MN, Hack RJ, Liao Y-C, Jolly AA, Guey S, Hsu S-L, Park J-Y, Yuan Y, Kopczak A, Rifino N, Neilson SJ, Poggesi A, Shourav MMI, Saito S, Ishiyama H, Dominguez Mayoral A, Nogueira R, Muino E, Andersen P, De Stefano N, Santo G, Sukhonpanich N, Mele F, Park A, Lee JS, Rodriguez-Girondo M, Vonk SJJ, Brodtmann A, Borjesson-Hanson A, Pantoni L, Fernandez-Cadenas I, Silva AR, Montanaro VVA, Kalaria RN, Lopergolo D, Ihara M, Meschia JF, Muir KW, Bersano A, Pescini F, Duering M, Choi JC, Ling C, Kim H, Markus HS, Chabriat H, Lee Y-C, Lesnik Oberstein SAJ

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: JAMA Neurology

Year: 2025

Volume: 82

Issue: 1

Pages: 49-60

Print publication date: 01/01/2025

Online publication date: 29/11/2024

Acceptance date: 25/10/2024

Date deposited: 03/02/2025

ISSN (print): 2168-6149

ISSN (electronic): 2168-6157

Publisher: American Medical Association

URL: https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2024.4487

DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2024.4487

Data Access Statement: Data available: No. Explanation for why data not available: The anonymized patient dataset of the respective research sites can be shared with qualified investigators upon reasonable request to the principle investigator of that specific research site. The online tool to perform disease staging is freely available at www.lumc.nl/notch3-svd-staging-system.

PubMed id: 39610302


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Funding

Funder referenceFunder name
British Heart Foundation (RG/F/22/110052)
European Union Horizon 2020 (grant agreement 666881)
Karolinska University Hospital Research and Development
Medical Research Council
Netherlands Brain Foundation (HA2016-02-03, BG2015-2)
Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMW 91717325)
NST grant from the Leiden University Medical Center Bontius Foundation
Vascular Dementia Research Foundation

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