Age and Ageing Advance Access published online on September 18, 2006
Age and Ageing, doi:10.1093/ageing/afl108
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 Leicester General Hospital, Medicine for the Care of Older People, Leicester, UK
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is an important cause of primary intracerebral haemorrhage (PICH) in older people, accounting for
Received January 12, 2006
Accepted August 11, 2006
Review
Sporadic cerebral amyloid angiopathy--an important cause of cerebral haemorrhage in older people
Bhomraj Thanvi 1 * and Tom Robinson 1
Bhomraj Thanvi, E-mail: bthanvi{at}hotmail.com
![]()
Abstract
10% of all types of PICH. The amount of amyloid deposition in the vessels and vasculopathic changes determine the propensity to PICH. The risk factors of CAA include advanced age and the presence of certain alleles of apo-lipoprotein E. There are no specific clinical features of CAA-related PICH, although lobar, recurrent or multiple simultaneous haemorrhages in older patients should raise suspicion of its diagnosis. A definitive diagnosis of CAA requires pathological examination of the affected tissue. However, with modern imaging techniques, it is possible to make a diagnosis of probable CAA in patients presenting with PICH. Gradient-echo magnetic resonance imaging is a sensitive, non-invasive technique for identifying small haemorrhages in life. Currently, there is no specific treatment available for CAA. Recent advances in the immunopathology and pathogenesis of CAA are expected to help in developing specific anti-amyloid therapy.![]()
CiteULike
Connotea
Del.icio.us What's this?