“Blood pressure and cerebral small vessel disease”

Supervisor:

• prof.dr. R.J. van Oostenbrugge

Co-supervisor:

• dr. J. Staals

Cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) is a condition affecting the small blood vessels in the body and can lead to cerebral infarction in the deeper parts of the brain, also known as a lacunar stroke. We researched the relationship between 24-hour blood pressure tests and cSVD expressions in an MRI scan of patients with a recent lacunar stroke. One key finding was a link between blood pressure, spaces around blood vessels (perivascular areas) and microbleeds. Blood pressure was also associated with a new score we developed that combines all cSVD expressions on an MRI scan. This score offers a new way of examining the overall severity of cSVD on an MRI scan, which had never been done before.