Cerebral autosomal recessive arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy
Last updated 18 Aug 2020
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Cerebral autosomal recessive arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy, commonly known as CARASIL, is an inherited condition that causes stroke and other impairments.
Description
Cerebral autosomal recessive arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy, commonly known as CARASIL, is an inherited condition that causes stroke and other impairments.
Abnormalities affecting the brain and other parts of the nervous system become apparent in an affected person's twenties or thirties. Often, muscle stiffness (spasticity) in the legs and problems with walking are the first signs of the disorder. About half of affected individuals have a stroke or similar episode before age 40. As the disease progresses, most people with CARASIL also develop mood and personality changes, a decline in thinking ability (dementia), memory loss, and worsening problems with movement.
Other characteristic features of CARASIL include premature hair loss (alopecia) and attacks of low back pain. The hair loss often begins during adolescence and is limited to the scalp. Back pain, which develops in early to mid-adulthood, results from the breakdown (degeneration) of the discs that separate the bones of the spine (vertebrae) from one another.
The signs and symptoms of CARASIL worsen slowly with time. Over the course of several years, affected individuals become less able to control their emotions and communicate with others. They increasingly require help with personal care and other activities of daily living; after a few years, they become unable to care for themselves. Most affected individuals die within a decade after signs and symptoms first appear, although few people with the disease have survived for 20 to 30 years.
Inheritance patterns
The source lists the following possible inheritance patterns: Autosomal recessive. More than one pattern can apply in different cases.
Related genes
Other names
CARASIL
Familial young-adult-onset arteriosclerotic leukoencephalopathy with alopecia and lumbago without arterial hypertension
Maeda syndrome
Nemoto disease
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Further reading and references
- Cerebral autosomal recessive arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy; MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine.
- Fukutake T. Cerebral autosomal recessive arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CARASIL): from discovery to gene identification. J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis. 2011 Mar-Apr;20(2):85-93. doi: 10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2010.11.008. Epub 2011 Jan 7.
- Hara K, Shiga A, Fukutake T, Nozaki H, Miyashita A, Yokoseki A, Kawata H, Koyama A, Arima K, Takahashi T, Ikeda M, Shiota H, Tamura M, Shimoe Y, Hirayama M, Arisato T, Yanagawa S, Tanaka A, Nakano I, Ikeda S, Yoshida Y, Yamamoto T, Ikeuchi T, Kuwano R, Nishizawa M, Tsuji S, Onodera O. Association of HTRA1 mutations and familial ischemic cerebral small-vessel disease. N Engl J Med. 2009 Apr 23;360(17):1729-39. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa0801560.
- Oide T, Nakayama H, Yanagawa S, Ito N, Ikeda S, Arima K. Extensive loss of arterial medial smooth muscle cells and mural extracellular matrix in cerebral autosomal recessive arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CARASIL). Neuropathology. 2008 Apr;28(2):132-42. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1789.2007.00864.x. Epub 2007 Nov 6.
- Onodera O, Nozaki H, Fukutake T. HTRA1 Disorder. 2010 Apr 27 [updated 2019 Nov 7]. In: Adam MP, Bick S, Mirzaa GM, Wallace SE, Amemiya A, editors. GeneReviews(R) [Internet]. Seattle (WA): University of Washington, Seattle; 1993-2026. Available from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK32533/
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