Trial Parameters
Brief Summary
A prospective observational cohort study in patients with cerebral small vessel disease deterring whether changes in systemic inflammation predict brain white matter damage measured using MRI and cognitive decline. This is a study funded by a joint BHF-Dutch Heart Foundation research grant and will be conducted in both Cambridge UK and Nijmegen Netherlands with 100 of the 200 total participants recruited at each site, and data from both sites analysed together.
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Have given written informed consent to participate * Be aged 40 years and over * Have symptomatic cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) defined as: * Clinical lacunar stroke syndrome with lacunar infarct, as defined by the Standards for Reporting Vascular Changes on Neuroimaging (STRIVE) criteria * And/OR Symptoms of cognitive impairment due to SVD with lacunar infarct on MRI * And/OR Gait apraxia/motor impairment presumed due to SVD with lacunar infarct on MRI Exclusion Criteria: * Unable/unwilling to consent including lack of capacity to consent * Contraindications to taking part in MRI study as assessed by the local MRI safety questionnaire, e.g., pacemaker * Vaccination or infection with fever in preceding month * Any stroke cause other than SVD including: * Cardioembolic source * Carotid or vertebral stenosis \> 50% measured on NASCET (North American Symptomatic Carotid Endarterectomy Trial) criteria * Myocardial infarction in past year * Auto-immune/auto-infla