Cerebral Small Vessel Disease and Arterial Stiffness: Tsunami Effect in the Brain?

摘要

Background: Cerebral small vessel diseases, including silent lacunar infarcts, white matter hyperintensities, and microbleeds, pose a risk for cerebrovascular disease, cognitive impairment, and the geriatric syndrome via effects on arterial stiffness. However, the vascular, physiological, and metabolic roles of arterial stiffness in cerebral small vessel diseases remain unclear. Summary: Arterial stiffness can be assessed using various indicators such as the ankle-brachial index, pulse wave velocity, cardio-ankle vascular index, and augmentation index. Arterial stiffness is independently associated with all components of cerebral small vessel disease including silent lacunar infarcts, white matter hyperintensities, and microbleeds, although there are some methodological differences between the various surrogate markers. Evidence of arterial stiffness indicates microvessel arteriosclerosis presenting with vascular endothelial dysfunction. Further, vascular narrowing due to atherosclerosis and vascular stiffness due to lipohyalinosis can accelerate the pulse waves.