Neuropathology of cerebrovascular diseases

Abstract

The chapter describes the epidemiology of cerebrovascular diseases, anatomy of the cerebral blood vessels, pathophysiology of ischemia, hypoxia, hypoxemia, anemic hypoxia, histotoxic hypoxia, carbon monoxide damage, hyperoxid brain damage and decompression sickness, and selective cell and regional vulnerability; diseases of the blood vessels including atherosclerosis, hypertensive angiopathy, small vessel disease, inflammatory vascular diseases, cerebral amyloid angiopathies, CADASIL, CARASIL and other diseases that can lead to cerebrovascular occlusion; intracranial and intraspinal aneurysms and vascular malformations; hematologic disorders that can cause cerebral infarct or hemorrhage; brain ischemic damage; and spontaneous intracranial bleeding. Within ischemic brain damage, focal cerebral ischemia, hemorrhagic infarct, brain edema, penumbra, global cerebral ischemia, venous thrombosis, lacunas and lacunar state, status cribosus, granular atrophy of the cerebral cortex, hippocampal sclerosis, vascular leukoencephalopathy Binswanger type and multi-infarct encephalopathy are discussed in detail. Cognitive impairment of vascular origin deserves an individual section.

Keywords: aneurysm; diseases of blood vessels; haemorrhage; hypoxia; infarct; ischemia; vascular cognitive infarct; vascular malformations.