Vascular Amyloidosis in Neurodegenerative Conditions

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy defines the deposition of amyloid fibrils in the walls of medium- and small-size leptomeningeal and cortical arteries and arterioles. This condition is an important cause of cerebral hemorrhages and is also associated with cerebral infarctions and diffused white matter changes. In many instances, vascular amyloid deposits co-exist with intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles, being the cognitive areas the most severely affected. However, the importance of cerebral amyloid angiopathy as a causative element in the process of neurodegeneration is still debatable. This review discusses inherited dementia syndromes associated with neuronal loss and amyloid deposition in the brain, with particular focus on familial Alzheimer's disease and chromosome 13 dementia. (c) 2002 Prous Science. All rights reserved.