Journal of neurology
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Journal of neurology · Dec 2012
Association of obesity with cerebral microbleeds in neurologically asymptomatic elderly subjects.
Obesity is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, but few studies have investigated the effects of obesity on subclinical cerebrovascular disease. Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) are radiological markers of cerebral small vessel disease and reflect underlying vasculopathy. In this context, we assessed whether obesity was related to CMBs and to CMB subtypes categorized by location. ⋯ Obesity was associated with deep or infratentorial microbleeds. This finding suggests that obesity affects cerebral small vessels through arteriosclerotic vasculopathy. Based on our findings, we postulate that obesity is associated with the presence of subclinical and bleeding-prone cerebrovascular disease in the elderly.