Do hemorrhagic strokes from cerebral amyloid angiopathy represent a clinical entity in senior dogs?

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy is a vascular disorder involving deposition of toxic β-amyloid proteins in brain blood vessel walls. Cerebral amyloid angiopathy affects older people and dogs with similar histopathologic features. Cerebral amyloid angiopathy is implicated in the pathogenesis of cognitive decline in people with Alzheimer's disease but is also responsible for hemorrhagic strokes without preexisting cognitive impairment. Cerebral amyloid angiopathy is a major cause of spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage in elderly people. Clinical reports of senior dogs presented for acute neurologic dysfunction with MRI evidence of spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage are limited. This article is intended to provide a comparative overview of cerebral amyloid angiopathy in dogs and humans and propose the concept that cerebral amyloid angiopathy in senior dogs represents an underrecognized clinical entity.