Thesis defense Mengfei Cai (Donders series 551)

19 April 2022

Promotors: Prof. dr. H.F. de Leeuw, Prof. dr. M.H. Düring
Co-promotors: Dr. A.M. Tuladhar

Temporal dynamics of cerebral small vessel disease. A motor perspective.

Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is a type of disease involving the lesions of small vessels in the brain. It contributes to gait and cognitive impairment (i.e., dementia) as well as stroke and mood problems. With the help of brain MRI scans, we are able to visualize these lesions and evaluate how they progress over time and how they relate to clinical outcomes. This thesis showed the long-term temporal dynamics of SVD with regression compensated by progression. Traditional vascular risk factors, e.g., hypertension and SVD burden at baseline could predict the long-term progression of SVD. Besides, SVD progression is also involved in the clinical outcomes, e.g., incident parkinsonism.