CADASIL Support Group

CADASIL (cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy) is the most common form of hereditary stroke disorder, and is thought to be caused by mutations of the Notch 3 gene on chromosome 19 (Joutel et al, 1996). The most common clinical manifestations are transient ischemic attacks or strokes, which usually occur between 40 and 50 years of age, although MRI is able to detect signs of the disease years prior to clinical manifestation of disease (Chabriat et al, 1995). The disease leads to death in approximately 20 years (Chabriat et al, 1995).