Cerebral amyloid angiopathy

Common card · No. 333951

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is a form of angiopathy (disease of the blood vessels) in which specific proteins deposit in the walls of small to medium-sized blood vessels of the brain and meninges (lining of the brain). The term congophilic is sometimes used because the presence of the abnormal aggregations of amyloid can be demonstrated by microscopic examination of brain tissue after staining with Congo red. The amyloid material is only found in the brain and as such the disease is not related to other forms of amyloidosis. Amyloid β is the specific type of amyloid that deposits in the arterial walls in the most common form of the disease. Bleeding occurs as amyloid deposits replace the muscular layer in the arterial walls, weakening the walls, and leading to inflammation. The resulting deposits may eventually lead to brain bleeds (hemorrhagic strokes) or microbleed many years later (about 30-40 years after the deposits begin based on limited studies). Therefore symptomatic disease...

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