This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Napoli, M. D. Articles by Papa, F. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Napoli, M. D. Articles by Papa, F. Related Collections Cerebrovascular disease/stroke Risk Factors Clinical Studies Related Article

(Circulation. 2005;112:781-785.)
© 2005 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorial

C-Reactive Protein and Cerebral Small-Vessel Disease

An Opportunity to Reassess Small-Vessel Disease Physiopathology?

Mario Di Napoli, MD; Francesca Papa, MD

From the Neurological Service, San Camillo de’ Lellis General Hospital, Rieti, Italy (M.D.), and the Neurological Section, SMDN-Center for Cardiovascular Medicine and Cerebrovascular Disease Prevention, Sulmona, L’Aquila, Italy (M.D., F.P.).

Correspondence to Dr Mario Di Napoli, Neurological Section, SMDN-Center for Cardiovascular Medicine and Cerebrovascular Disease Prevention, Via Trento 41, I-67039, Sulmona (AQ), Italy. E-mail mariodinapoli@katamail.com

Key Words: Editorials • C-reactive protein • cerebrovascular disorders • leukoaraiosis • inflammation

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

Stroke places a large burden on healthcare and social services resources in the older adult population. Because the incidence of stroke increases with advancing age, and the population is aging, the number of patients affected by stroke is increasing.

See p 900

The burden of stroke goes well beyond those cases that are clinically recognized. Imaging techniques of the brain have revealed a remarkably high prevalence of white matter lesions (WML) and silent brain lacunar infarcts (SBLI). In the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute–sponsored Cardiovascular Health Study, SBLI 3 mm were found in 31% of all subjects.¹ Fewer than 15% of patients with such lesions had a clinical history of stroke. The prevalence of SBLI increased with advancing age; 22% of subjects 65 to 69 years old had SBLI, as compared with 43% in subjects 80 years old. WML involving in particular the centrum ovale are a subject of great interest. Partly this is because modern neuroimaging methods detect subcortical WM changes with increasing frequency in people >60 years old and also because these abnormalities may be associated with specific neurobehavioral deficits, including dementing syndromes.² The descriptive term leukoaraiosis (LA), frequently applied to these neuroimaging abnormalities of the WM, refers to bilateral and either patchy or diffuse areas of hypodensity on CT or hyperintensity on T2-weighted MRI.³

In this issue of Circulation, van Dijk and colleagues⁴ explore the relationship of C-reactive protein (CRP), a well-known systemic marker of inflammation, with the severity and progression of cerebral WML/LA on . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Related Article:

C-Reactive Protein and Cerebral Small-Vessel Disease: The Rotterdam Scan Study

E. J. van Dijk, N. D. Prins, S. E. Vermeer, H. A. Vrooman, A. Hofman, P. J. Koudstaal, and M. M.B. Breteler
Circulation 2005 112: 900-905. [Abstract] [Full Text]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Fornage, Y. A. Chiang, E. S. O'Meara, B. M. Psaty, A. P. Reiner, D. S. Siscovick, R. P. Tracy, and W.T. Longstreth Jr Biomarkers of Inflammation and MRI-Defined Small Vessel Disease of the Brain: The Cardiovascular Health Study Stroke, July 1, 2008; 39(7): 1952 - 1959. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				V. Aboyans, M. H. Criqui, J. O. Denenberg, J. D. Knoke, P. M Ridker, and A. Fronek Risk Factors for Progression of Peripheral Arterial Disease in Large and Small Vessels Circulation, June 6, 2006; 113(22): 2623 - 2629. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]