Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is a common cerebrovascular disease involved in ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes, and its progression is correlated to cognitive decline. In vivo diagnosis of CAA is guided by the modified Boston criteria, with the presence of multiple intracerebral hemorrhage or cerebral microbleeds (CMB), or single hemorrhage and cortical superficial siderosis. The diagnosis of CAA is highly dependent on the quality of imaging and the advent of susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI) sequences has improved sensitivity of MRI to detect hemosiderin deposition and CMB, hallmarks of CAA. We report here 3 clinical cases of patients with Alzheimer's disease and a focal form (i.e., not disseminated) of probable CAA, diagnosed with SWI sequences. Focal CAA may require closer attention and could offer keys in the understanding of both Alzheimer's disease and CAA pathogenesis.
Keywords: Alzheimer disease; Cerebral amyloid angiopathy; Focal cerebral amyloid angiopathy; Susceptibility-weighted imaging.