What are Lacunes in the brain?
Lacunes (little lakes, as the term suggests) are small, deep brain infarcts resulting from occlusion of penetrating branches of larger cerebral arteries.
What does small vessel disease of the brain mean?
Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) is a generic term that refers to intracranial vascular disease based on various pathological and neurological processes, as well as a syndrome referring to different clinical manifestations and neuroimaging features caused by the structural changes of vascular and brain parenchyma.
What is chronic small vessel ischemic disease of the brain?
Microvascular ischemic disease is an umbrella term that refers to a variety of changes in the small blood vessels of your brain. Depending on the severity of these changes, they can cause a range of complications — from difficulty focusing to a stroke.
What is lacunar infarcts in the basal ganglia?
Lacunar infarcts are small infarcts (2–20 mm in diameter) in the deep cerebral white matter, basal ganglia, or pons, presumed to result from the occlusion of a single small perforating artery supplying the subcortical areas of the brain.
Is small vessel disease serious?
Complications. Small vessel disease can make it harder for the heart to pump blood to the rest of the body. A possible complication of small vessel disease is a heart attack.
What is the best treatment for small vessel disease?
The goals of treatment for small vessel disease are to control the narrowing of the small blood vessels that can lead to a heart attack and to relieve pain….Treatment
- Nitroglycerin (Nitrostat, Nitro-Dur).
- Beta blockers.
- Calcium channel blockers.
- Statins.
- ACE inhibitors and ARBs.
- Ranolazine (Ranexa).
- Aspirin.
- Metformin.
Can you live with small vessel disease?
If left untreated, small vessel disease will force your heart to work harder to pump blood to your body. This could trigger coronary artery constriction/spasms, a heart attack, heart failure, or death.
Can ischemia be cured?
Ischemia may be reversible, in which case the affected tissue will recover with the restoration of blood flow, or irreversible, which can result in tissue death.