Cerebral small vessel disease and post-stroke cognitive impairment

ABSTRACT

Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) refers to a group of pathological processes with multifarious etiologies that affect the small arteries, arterioles, venules, and capillaries of the brain. Features seen on neuroimaging include white matter hyperintensities, lacunar infarction, cerebral microbleeds, brain atrophy, microinfarcts and enlarged perivascular spaces (EPVS). CSVD gives rise to one in five strokes worldwide and is a leading cause of cognitive impairment and dementia, especially in the elderly. Post-stroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) is one of the most common subtypes of cognitive impairment. The underlying mechanisms of PSCI are not known in detail. A growing body of evidence has been suggesting that CSVD plays an important role in the pathogenesis of PSCI. This article reviews the advances in research on the relationship between CSVD and PSCI.

KEYWORDS:

• White matter hyperintensities
• lacunar infarct
• cerebral microbleeds
• stroke
• cognitive impairment

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Funding

This work was supported by the Science & Technology Pillar Program of HeBei Province of China [number 14277787D] and the Science & Technology Plan Program of HeBei Province of China [number 16397795D].

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Science & Technology Pillar Program of HeBei Province of China [number 14277787D] and the Science & Technology Plan Program of HeBei Province of China [number 16397795D].