Article

Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is frequent in the elderly, and accounts for
a wide spectrum of clinical and radiological manifestations.
This report
summarizes the most important findings obtained using diffusion MRI (DWI) in SVD.
With DWI and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps, recent ischemic lesions
can easily be detected after acute stroke in SVD, while even multiple
simultaneous lesions may be observed. Microstructural changes are frequent in
SVD, with increases in diffusivity and decreases in anisotropy being the most
reliable findings observed, mainly in white matter. These tissue changes are
associated with clinical severity and especially executive dysfunction. They can
also precede the usual MRI markers of SVD, such as white matter hyperintensities,
microbleeds and lacunes. Thus, DWI may reveal surrogate markers of SVD
progression and offer a better understanding of their underlying mechanisms.
CI - Copyright (c) 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Langue : ANGLAIS