Clinical Research Directory

Dilated Perivascular Spaces in the Dentate Nucleus on MRI in Patients with Hypertensive Angiopathy or Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy

Hypertensive arteriopathy (HA) and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) are the two most common forms of cerebral small vessel disease. On MRI, chronic small vessel disease-related abnormalities include white matter hyperintensities, dilated perivascular spaces (DPVS), lacunar infarction, and hemorrhagic features (e.g. cerebral microbleeds, CMB). In the cerebellum, deep CMB involving the dentate nucleus (DN) is associated with HA, whereas the presence of superficial cerebellar CMB are associated with CAA. DPVS are observed in both diseases, predominant in the subcortical white matter (especially in the centrum semiovale) in CAA whereas HA-related DPVS are predominant deep in the brain inside or nearby the basal ganglia. To the best of our knowledge, DN-DPVS have never been studies systematically in small vessel disease. The researchers want to study DN-DPVS on T2-weighted 3T MRI in patients with HA or CAA and to compare both groups.