Cerebral small vessel disease is a major cause of dementia and stroke with unknown pathophysiology. Increased blood flow pulsation is hypothesized to be an underlying pathology of small vessel disease, but has not been investigated in cerebral small vessels. Using 2D phase contrast MRI at 7T, we measured the pulsatility index in cerebral perforating arteries of patients with lacunar infarction or deep intracerebral haemorrhage and a group of healthy controls. We showed that both patient groups have a higher pulsatility index in small vessels than controls. This warrants further research into the possible role of pulsatility in small vessel disease.
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