Mild Stroke Study 3 recruits first participant

Aug 2018: The Mild Stroke Study 3 recruited its first participant on 22nd August. The study aims to improve understanding of what affects the progression of small vessel disease, and to identify novel targets for prevention and therapy.

The Mild Stroke Study 3 team, led by Professor Joanna Wardlaw, aims to assess factors that affect brain small vessel dysfunction in small vessel disease (SVD), how this damages the brain, whether the effects are permanent or can resolve. It will also examine the associated factors, and whether some individuals are more vulnerable than others to the effects of small vessel dysfunction, for example due to having a less resilient white matter structure.

The team will recruit participants who have suffered a minor stroke due to SVD (lacunar ischaemic stroke), or who present with minor non-lacunar ischaemic stroke. They will use brain MRI to assess the extent to which SVD lesions can change over time, the integrity of the white and grey matter, small vessel blood flow and function, and blood-brain barrier leakage. They will also image the retinal small vessels, measure blood pressure, systemic vascular compliance and obtain detailed information about medical and lifestyle factors, to understand how small vessel dysfunction and SVD lesion development are related to the clinical, cognitive and physical features of SVD.

Dr Una Clancy is the Chief Scientist Office-funded clinical academic fellow coordinating the study.

The Mild Stroke Study 3 receives support from Fondation Leducq, the UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Edinburgh, and the Row Fogo Charitable Trust.

The study forms part of the sporadic SVD study, a collaboration between Sunnybrook Dementia Research Institute at the University of Toronto and Professor Wardlaw’s team at the Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences.

Mild Stroke Study 3 recruits first participant

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