research
Atherosclerotic Calcification: Determinants and Clinical Neurological Consequences
- Publication date
- 11 December 2013
- Publisher
- __Abstract__
Atherosclerosis is a highly frequent vascular disease that exerts huge influence
on the health care system. Major clinical conditions caused by atherosclerosis
are ischemic heart disease (myocardial infarction) and stroke, both top causes of
global morbidity and mortality in middle-aged and elderly persons. Due to the
aging of the population, the global burden of atherosclerosis, and thereby of its
clinical consequences, will continue to rise in the coming decades.
The purpose of my thesis is to expand the knowledge on determinants - or risk
factors - and neurological consequences of atherosclerosis, with a specific focus
on differences across vessel beds. The research described in my thesis was
performed within the framework of the Rotterdam Study;21 a large prospective,
population-based cohort study aimed at investigating determinants of various
chronic diseases in the elderly. Using CT-imaging in this population-based setting,
I studied atherosclerosis in four major vessel beds: the coronary arteries,
aortic arch and the extracranial and intracranial part of the internal carotid arteries.