[Cerebral small vessel disease: the pathological features of cerebral amyloid angiopathy].

This review describes the principal vessel histopathology in sporadic cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA). In sporadic CAA, β-amyloid is deposited on the lobar intracortical and leptomeningeal vessel wall. Fibrinoid necrosis, fibrohyalinous intimal thickening, microaneurysms, luminal stenosis, and inflammatory cell infiltration of the involved vessels appear subsequent to the amyloid deposition. The histopathology of sporadic CAA is described in comparison with that of hypertensive vasculopathy, both of which are the most common forms of cerebral small vessel disease.