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Brain Microcirculation and Silent Cerebral Damage

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Abstract

Besides age, hypertension is the cardiovascular risk factor most closely related to cerebrovascular disease. Hypertension seems to predispose to the development of cognitive impairment, dementia, and ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke after a period of time that may vary from a few years to several decades. During this time, during which the majority of hypertensives remain asymptomatic, elevated blood pressure predisposes to the development of subtle alterations, based on arteriolar narrowing or microvascular changes that involve chronic ischemia of the small arteries (cerebral white matter lesions, lacunar infarcts), as well as deposits of hemosiderin in perivascular spaces (cerebral microbleeds), mainly in deep perforating arteries in the brain. Despite the strong epidemiological relationship, the etiopathogenic mechanisms through which hypertension leads to cerebral pathology are diverse, complex and not completely understood.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hypertension and Vascular Risk Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Clinic, IDIBAPS, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Cristina Sierra & Antonio Coca

Authors
  1. Cristina Sierra
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  2. Antonio Coca
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Correspondence to Cristina Sierra .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiology, Carol Davila University of Medicine, Bucharest, Romania

    Maria Dorobantu

  2. Cardiovascular Program-ICCC, IR- Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Lina Badimon

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Sierra, C., Coca, A. (2020). Brain Microcirculation and Silent Cerebral Damage. In: Dorobantu, M., Badimon, L. (eds) Microcirculation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28199-1_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28199-1_11

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-28198-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-28199-1

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