Cerebral Small Vessel Disease

• Published in: Cell transplantation Vol. 27; no. 12; pp. 1711 - 1722
• Main Authors: Li, Qian, Yang, Yang, Reis, Cesar, Tao, Tao, Li, Wanwei, Li, Xiaogang, Zhang, John H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.12.2018; Sage Publications Ltd; SAGE Publishing
• Subjects: Arteries; Arterioles; Arteriolosclerosis - pathology; Arteriolosclerosis - therapy; Atrophy; Capillaries; Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy - pathology; Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy - therapy; Cerebral Small Vessel Diseases - classification; Cerebral Small Vessel Diseases - drug therapy; Cerebral Small Vessel Diseases - pathology; Clinical aspects; Cognitive ability; Dementia disorders; Gait; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Medical imaging; Mental disorders; Neuroimaging; Pathophysiology; Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Review; Stroke - prevention & control; Substantia alba; Tissue Plasminogen Activator - therapeutic use; Urinary incontinence; Vascular diseases; White Matter - diagnostic imaging; cerebral amyloid angiopathy; MRI; arteriolosclerosis; dementia; stroke syndrome; Cerebral small vessel disease; neuroimaging
• ISSN: 0963-6897; 1555-3892; 1555-3892
• DOI: 10.1177/0963689718795148

Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) is composed of several diseases affecting the small arteries, arterioles, venules, and capillaries of the brain, and refers to several pathological processes and etiologies. Neuroimaging features of CSVD include recent small subcortical infarcts, lacunes, white matter hyperintensities, perivascular spaces, microbleeds, and brain atrophy. The main clinical manifestations of CSVD include stroke, cognitive decline, dementia, psychiatric disorders, abnormal gait, and urinary incontinence. Currently, there are no specific preventive or therapeutic measures to improve this condition. In this review, we will discuss the pathophysiology, clinical aspects, neuroimaging, progress of research to treat and prevent CSVD and current treatment of this disease.