E-book
Digital Version
Valenti, Raffaella

Cerebral Small Vessel Disease and Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy : neuroimaging markers, cognitive features and rehabilitative issues

2018 - Firenze University Press

181 p.

  • Includes bibliographical references.
  • Sporadic cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is considered to be among the most commonly known neuropathological processes in the brain, hosting a crucial role in stroke, cognitive impairment, and functional loss in elderly subjects. We investigated clinical (neuroimaging and cognitive) biomarkers in the SVD, through a series of analyses from our five studies. Sporadic cerebral SVD is a complex ‘micro-world' to be globally considered. All the relevant lesion types and SVD neuroimaging burden should be taken into account. The cumulative effects of microangiopathy burden in the brain of patients affected by SVD are crucial. Cognitive rehabilitation could represent a promising approach to prevent vascular dementia or to improve cognitive performances in patients with cerebral SVD. Longitudinal studies may provide more robust information about the progression and prognostic significance of our findings.
  • Raffaella Valenti, Medical Doctor, Neurologist, PhD in Neurosciences. Her research line during the PhD focused on the global SVD-related brain injury on MRI, and their consequences on cognitive features. Part of the research described in this thesis was completed during her time as a Stroke Research Fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital (Harvard Medical School, Boston; Supervisor: Professor Steven Greenber; PI: Professor Anand Viswanathan). [Publisher's text]