Definition:

Cerebral autosomal recessive arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CARASIL) is a very rare autosomal recessive vascular disorder characterized by nonhypertensive cerebral small-vessel disease with early adulthood onset subcortical infarcts, progressive motor and cognitive impairment, alopecia, and spondylosis. Until recently, this disorder was almost exclusively reported in the Asian population. It has been found that CARASIL is associated with mutations in the HTRA1 gene encoding HtrA serine protease 1.