Cerebral vessel size imaging reveals altered microvascular architecture in patients with vascular cognitive impairment

With vessel size imaging, utilizing hybrid spin-echo gradient-echo perfusion scans, we studied microvascular architectural differences in patients with vascular cognitive impairment (VCI). We found lower vessel density and larger vessel radii in white matter hyperintensities compared to normal-appearing white matter. Moreover, we observed lower vessel density and larger vessel radii in deep gray matter of VCI patients compared to controls. Our findings suggest that the smallest capillaries are the first to collapse in VCI pathology and that the microvasculature not only alters in visibly injured tissue but also in regions that are less prone to hypoperfusion (gray matter).