PhD Defence Elles Petronella Elschot

Keywords: MRI, microvasculature, stroke, post-stroke epilepsy 
 

"Cerebral microvascular MRI techniques: Insights into Stroke and Post-Stroke Epilepsy"

MRI is a techniques that can be used to visualize different aspects of the brain, such as the cerebral vasculature. Understanding the function of the brains vasculature, including its variations and anomalies, is crucial for diagnosing and treating cerebrovascular diseases. For instance, the cerebral vessels become impaired during a stroke and are subsequently in select cases associated with the development of epilepsy after a stroke. Especially the smallest vessels, i.e. capillaries or microvessels, of which the wall consists only of a thin endothelial layer called the blood-brain barrier, are thought to be involved in early disease onset or progression. BBB damage and altered perfusion have been shown to be involved in both stroke and epilepsy, and is therefore suggested as a biomarker for identification of the development of epilepsy after stroke. Therefore, this thesis investigated the use of advanced MRI techniques to gain more insight into pathophysiological processes in stroke and post-stroke epilepsy. 

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