Right-to-left shunt in CADASIL patients: prevalence and correlation with clinical and MRI findings

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: A high prevalence of right-to-left shunt (RLS) was described in a family of patients with CADASIL, a rare cerebral arteriopathy attributable to Notch3 gene mutations. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of RLS in patients with CADASIL and possible relation to clinical phenotype and cerebral MRI lesion load. METHODS: Twenty-three CADASIL patients underwent Transcranial Doppler with gaseous contrast to asses RLS. Correlations between RLS, clinical features, and MRI lesion volume (LV) were determined. RESULTS: Large RLS was diagnosed in 47% of patients. No significant clinical or MRI differences were found between patients with and without RLS. CONCLUSIONS: We found a high prevalence of RLS in our group of CADASIL patients. This may not be a coincidence, but can be rather related to the role of the Notch receptor family in the development of cardiovascular system.