Rationale and design of a longitudinal study of cerebral small vessel diseases, clinical and imaging outcomes in patients presenting with mild ischaemic stroke: Mild Stroke Study 3

Abstract

Factors which influence direction and rate of change of small vessel disease lesions are poorly understood. We investigate the role of small vessel dysfunction using advanced serial neuroimaging in a deeply phenotyped cohort to increase understanding of the natural history of small vessel disease, identify those at highest risk of early disease progression or regression and uncover novel targets for small vessel disease prevention and therapy.