Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) represents cerebral microvascular disorders [1,2] and visualizes on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as white matter hyperintensities (WMH), microinfarcts, microbleeds and superficial siderosis [1]. Epidemiological data indicate that CSVD is associated with poor vascular cognitive impairment [3,4], stroke [5,6] and dementia [7,8]. The most common pathology underlying CSVD is cerebral arteriosclerosis resulting from aging, hypertension and other vascular risk factors [9–11].
