Key Points Vascular dementia (VaD), as conventionally defined, is one of the most frequent forms of dementia. Furthermore, when vascular contributions to other types of dementias are included, it is arguably the most common form of dementia. Criteria for the…
Key Points Stroke is the second most common cause of death in the world and a leading cause of long-term disability. In the United States, stroke has declined from the third leading cause of death to the fifth cause of…
Key Points This chapter summarizes key evidence on the determinants of stroke, focusing on risk factors that are relatively common and modifiable, and interventions intended to reduce the risk of a first stroke. Data from large, prospective epidemiologic cohort studies…
Key Points Despite dramatic temporal declines in stroke mortality for all race/ethnic groups, the black-white disparity in stroke has been persistent (or even perhaps growing). While the black-white disparity in mortality averages 40% across the age spectrum, this pooling across…
Key Points The Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) 2016 study shows that while mortality rates and mortality to incidence ratios for stroke have decreased, the global burden of stroke in terms of absolute numbers of incident strokes, survivors, stroke-related deaths,…
Key Points Vascular disease is a major cause of dementia in the elderly. White matter is vulnerable to ischemic damage with oligodendrocytes targeted by hypoxia. The neurovascular unit in the white matter includes the oligodendrocytes that myelinate axons. Microglia impact…
Key Points Cerebrovascular malformations are a major cause of intracranial hemorrhage in young adults and children, resource-intensive to manage, and poorly understood with respect to mechanisms and risk factors. Most cases of brain arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) are sporadic, but they…
Key Points Angiogenesis, neurogenesis, axonal plasticity, oligodendrogenesis, synaptogenesis, and inflammatory response are major interwoven brain repair processes during stroke recovery. microRNAs play an important role in mediating repair processes. Exosomes, by transferring select RNAs and proteins, are mediators of intercellular…
Key Points Inflammation is a predominant feature of clinical and experimental stroke. Brain resident and hematogenous immune cells participate in the inflammatory response. Local intravascular and parenchymal events initiate a sterile inflammatory response to ischemia. Postischemic immune response may be…
Key Points Most ischemic strokes involve both white matter and gray matter, and 20% of strokes predominantly involve white matter. Mechanisms of white matter ischemic injury are less well understood than the mechanisms of gray matter ischemic injury and distinctly…