Cerebral amyloid angiopathy in vascular dementia

Yuichiro Ii, Hidekazu Tomimoto

Department of Neurology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine

Sporadic cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is cerebral small vessel disease characterized by deposition of β-amyloid in the walls of small arteries and capillaries in the cerebral cortex and leptomeninges. CAA is frequently detected in elderly individuals, especially in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Recently, it is recognized that severe CAA is an important contributor to cognitive impairment with and without AD pathology. Although the pathophysiological mechanisms of cognitive impairment caused by CAA have not been established, CAA-related vasculopathy including lobar microbleeds, cortical microinfarcts and white matter changes may be involved in the continuous spectrum of vascular dementia (VaD) and AD.

Address correspondence to Dr. Yuichiro Ii, Department of Neurology, Mie University Graduate School of Medicine(20174 Edobashi, Tsu, Mie 514-8507, Japan)