MRI brain scan, please interpret these results (if you know)

[Roderick_Femm]

I am participating in a study on traumatic brain injury, as part of the control (non-injured) group. Part of the study includes two MRIs separated over a few months, and yesterday I received a CD with the images from the first scan (I haven’t looked at them, but I may give it to my doctor), along with an evaluation by an MD in the radiology and biomedical imaging department.

Their focus here seems to be on trying to determine whether I have had no traumatic brain injury. Mostly it reads like I’m in good shape (for my age) but one passage is perhaps not so sanguine, so I would like to know what it means, if possible. My age at the time of the scan was 69.

@evaluating MD

Multiple foci of 72 FLAIR hyperintensity in the periventricular, deep and, to lesser degree, subcortical white matter. (snip)

Multiple foci of 72 FLAIR hyperintensity in the supratentorial white matter likely due to chronic small vessel ischemic disease, and likely within expected limits for the patient’s age. No findings suspicious for traumatic brain injury.

So what is chronic small vessl ischemic disease (worries me about likelihood of stroke)? And can you explain the symptoms (multiple foci etc. etc.) in layman’s terms? In other words, how serious is this?

[KarlGauss]

This a very common finding in many asymptomatic, usually older, individuals.

Mostly such changes are attributed to the effects of things like getting close to being 70 years old, high blood pressure, smoking, and diabetes. They do not represent strokes as traditionally described, i.e. they are not an abrupt injury to the brain from lack of circulation. On the other hand, the ‘white matter changes’ may reflect a chronic inadequate blood supply to the deepest parts of the brain but, still, don’t necessarily cause symptoms. In some sense ‘chronic small vessel ischemic disease’ is what used to be called arteriosclerosis.

(BTW, ischemic refers to lack of blood flow)

[Roderick_Femm]

@KarlGauss

This a very common finding in many asymptomatic, usually older, individuals.

Mostly such changes are attributed to the effects of things like getting close to being 70 years old, high blood pressure, smoking, and diabetes. They do not represent strokes as traditionally described, i.e. they are not an abrupt injury to the brain from lack of circulation. On the other hand, the ‘white matter changes’ may reflect a chronic inadequate blood supply to the deepest parts of the brain but, still, don’t necessarily cause symptoms. In some sense ‘chronic small vessel ischemic disease’ is what used to be called arteriosclerosis.

(BTW, ischemic refers to lack of blood flow)

Thank you very much. I don’t smoke and I don’t have diabetes, but I do have high blood pressure (although it is controlled by medication). Anyway, I feel somewhat relieved.