Lésions vasculaires « silencieuses » et démences

Silent cerebral infarcts are small, usually lacunar infarcts, that occur in the absence of clinical symptoms of stroke. Leukoaraiosis is frequently associated with silent infarcts and is also usually the consequence of small-vessel disease. Brain microbleeds are small dot-like lesions appearing as hyposignal on gradient echo T2* MR sequences. In Alzheimer's disease, brain microbleeds are of special interest as they may have a crucial role in the pathophysiology. They may be a missing link between two important theories on the neuropathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease: the amyloid cascade hypothesis and the vascular hypothesis. Silent cerebral infarcts, leukoaraiosis and brain microbleeds are associated with an increased risk of dementia.