Relation Between Cerebral Small Vessel Disease and Vascular Reactivity - A 7 Tesla Study

Mandy Conijn¹, Hans Hoogduin, Jeroen Hendrikse, Mirjam Geerlings, Peter Luijten

Lacunar infarcts and white matter lesions are thought to be caused by changes in the small vessels of the brain. It is possible that these changes influence the vascular reactivity in the brain. This study assessed if the presence of lacunar infarcts or white matter lesions is associated with a reduction of vascular reactivity, measured through the BOLD response at 7T. Both the whole brain signal change and the percentage of activated voxels were significantly decreased in patients with lacunar infarcts, but both measures were not related to white matter lesions.