Table 2.
Imaging markers of cerebral small vessel disease taken from Low et al.20 with permission (2022)
| White matter hyperintensities | Lacunes | Enlarged perivascular spaces | Cerebral microbleeds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What are they? | Patchy or diffuse lesions thought to represent axonal loss and demyelination | Focal subcortical infarcts caused by occlusion of perforating arteries | Microscopic fluid-filled spaces surrounding perforating vessels of the brain that become visible when dilated and also referred to as Virchow–Robin spaces | Small foci of chronic accumulation of blood products in brain tissue, Also referred to as microhaemorrhages |
| MRI sequence and appearance (+) Hyperintense/bright (−) Hypointense/dark |
FLAIR (+) | T1-weighted (−) T2-weighted (+) FLAIR (−) |
T2-weighted (+) | SWI (−) |
| Typical size | Variable | 3–15 mm | <3 mm | 2–5 up to 10 mm |
| Shape | Irregular Punctate/confluent |
Round/ovoid | Axial view In centrum semi-ovale: rounded/linear In basal ganglia:round/ovoid, cyst-like |
Round/ovoid |
| Method of quantification | Semi-automated quantification of volumes + Fazekas rating |
Manual identification with cross-verification in T1, T2 and FLAIR scans | EPVS rating scale (range from 0–4) | Manual identification according to Microbleed Anatomical Rating Scale (MARS) |
EPVS, enlarged perivascular spaces.