Cardiovascular disease and brain health: Focus on white matter hyperintensities.

ABSTRACT: Diseases affecting the brain contribute to a substantial proportion of morbidity and mortality in the general population. Conditions such as stroke, dementia and cognitive impairment have a prominent impact on global public health. Despite the heterogeneous clinical manifestations of these conditions and their diverse prognostic implications, current evidence supports a role for cardiovascular disease as a common pathophysiological ground. Brain white matter hyperintensities (WMH) are patchy white matter signal hyperintensity on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging sequences commonly found in elderly individuals. WMH appear to have a vascular pathogenesis and have been shown to confer an increased risk of stroke and cognitive decline. Indeed, they were proposed as a marker for central ne

SUBMITTER: Moroni F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6016077 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature