Angelina Kancheva, who joined SCMH in 2022 as an MRC funded PhD student, attended the VasCog 2023 Conference, 13-16 September in Sweden. Angelina presented an updated version of her project "Clinical Phenotypes Associated with Cerebral Small Vessel Disease - An Overview of Systematic Reviews".

Angelina was pleased to take part in the Conference poster presentation and 1-minute poster blitz.

Abstract

Despite the clinical relevance of cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD), a comprehensive overview of its clinical manifestations is lacking. We conducted an overview of systematic reviews describing concurrent clinical phenotypes associated with cSVD. We searched four databases and assessed neuroimaging evidence of cSVD using the STandards for ReportIng Vascular changes on nEuroimaging (STRIVE-1) criteria. We classified phenotypes into cognitive, mood and neuropsychiatric, respiratory, cardiovascular, renal-urinary, peripheral nervous system, locomotor, and gastrointestinal. Twenty-four systematic reviews met our inclusion criteria. Neuroimaging markers of cSVD are associated with various concurrent clinical conditions. Cognitive and neuropsychiatric phenotypes were examined most often, particularly in relation to white matter hyperintensities. Two reviews focused solely on perivascular spaces. No reviews assessed lacunes or small subcortical infarcts separately from other cSVD features. Reviews on many body systems were lacking. To fully characterize the clinical spectrum of cSVD, future studies should explore clinical associations beyond neurocognitive and neuropsychiatric presentations.

 

Angelina Kancheva presenting VasCog 2023


First published: 22 September 2023