Genetic factors predisposing to brain microbleeds

Brain microbleeds are common brain imaging findings and are more prevalent in the elderly, in particular individuals with dementia or stroke. Although brain microbleeds are known to be a marker of cerebral small vessel disease, not much is known about the genetic factors predisposing to brain microbleeds. Therefore, within the CHARGE consortium and the UK Biobank, we are working on a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of brain microbleeds (n/N≈3,500/25,000).