Table 1.

Pathologic basis of vascular cognitive disorders*

Parenchymal lesions of vascular etiology

(1) Large vessel or atherothromboembolic disease

(a) Multiple infarcts

(b) Single strategically placed infarct

(2) Small vessel disease:

(a) Multiple lacunar infarcts in white matter and deep gray matter nuclei

(b) Ischemic white matter change

(c) Dilatation of perivascular spaces

(d) Microinfarcts (cortical and subcortical) and microhemorrhages

(3) Hemorrhage

(a) Intracerebral hemorrhage

(b) Multiple cortical and subcortical microbleeds

(c) Subarachnoid hemorrhage

(4) Hypoperfusion

(a) Hippocampal sclerosis

(b) Laminar cortical sclerosis

Types of vascular lesions

(1) Atherosclerosis

(2) Cardiac, atherosclerotic, and systemic emboli

(3) Arteriolosclerosis

(4) Lipohyalinosis

(5) Amyloid angiopathy

(6) Vasculitis—infectious and noninfectious

(7) Venous collagenosis

(8) Arteriovenous fistulae—dural or parenchymal

(9) Hereditary angiopathies cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL); cerebral autosomal recessive arteriopathy with subcortical autosomal recessive leukoencephalopathy (CARASIL); etc.

(10) Giant cell arteritis

(11) Berry aneurysms

(12) Miscellaneous vasculopathies—fibromuscular dysplasia, Moya-Moya

(13) Systemic microangiopathies without vascular inflammatory cell infiltrates

(14) Cerebral venous thrombosis

*From Vascog [21].