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62/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 62 out of 100. How common it is

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) are increasingly recognised neuroimaging findings in individuals with cerebrovascular disease and dementia, and in normal ageing. There has been substantial progress in the understanding of CMBs in recent years, particularly in the development of newer MRI methods for the detection of CMBs and the application of these techniques to population-based samples of elderly people. In this Review, we focus on these recent developments and their effects on two main questions: how CMBs are detected, and how CMBs should be interpreted. The number of CMBs detected depends on MRI characteristics, such as pulse sequence, sequence parameters, spatial resolution, magnetic field strength, and image post-processing, emphasising the importance of taking into account MRI technique in the interpretation of study results. Recent investigations with sensitive MRI techniques have indicated a high prevalence of CMBs in community-dwelling elderly people. We propose a procedural guide for identification of CMBs and suggest possible future approaches for elucidating the role of these common lesions as markers for, and contributors to, small-vessel brain disease.

Key findings

The number of CMBs detected depends on MRI characteristics, such as pulse sequence, sequence parameters, spatial resolution, magnetic field strength, and image post-processing, emphasising the importance of taking into account MRI technique in the interpretation of study results.

Why it matters

This review discusses how cerebral microbleeds are detected on MRI and how they should be interpreted, noting that detection depends on the MRI technique used. It is about imaging findings and does not test any treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.

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Study details

Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 62/100

Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	9 / 10	Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (The Lancet. Neurology)
Journal's citation record	3 / 4	The Lancet Neurology: journal h-index 457 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	0 / 12	No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Strength of evidence	1 / 5	Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	1 / 5	2009 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	0 / 4	Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	0 / 3	Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Randomised / blinded	0 / 2	No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	7 / 7	Cited 1,802 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	5 / 5	94.8 citations a year over 19 year(s) since 2009
Impact for its field and year	6 / 6	Cited 43.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	4 / 6	Cited by 52 other studies in this library
Still being cited	4 / 4	Cited 290 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	4 / 4	Last-listed author Monique M.B. Breteler: h-index 162 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	3 / 3	Harvard University: institution h-index 3,235 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration	3 / 3	OpenAlex lists 10 institution(s) in 4 countries
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 19161908)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	62 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

Read the original

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Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

APA 7th

Greenberg, S. M., Vernooij, M. W., Cordonnier, C., Viswanathan, A., Al-Shahi Salman, R., Warach, S., et al. (2009). Cerebral microbleeds: a guide to detection and interpretation. The Lancet. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1474-4422(09)70013-4

Vancouver

Greenberg SM, Vernooij MW, Cordonnier C, Viswanathan A, Al-Shahi Salman R, Warach S, et al. Cerebral microbleeds: a guide to detection and interpretation. The Lancet. Neurology. 2009. doi:10.1016/s1474-4422(09)70013-4. PMID: 19161908.

BibTeX

@article{greenberg2009-19161908,
  author  = {Greenberg, S. M. and Vernooij, M. W. and Cordonnier, C. and Viswanathan, A. and Al-Shahi Salman, R. and Warach, S. and Launer, L. J. and Van Buchem, M. A. and others},
  title   = {{Cerebral microbleeds: a guide to detection and interpretation}},
  journal = {The Lancet. Neurology},
  year    = {2009},
  doi     = {10.1016/s1474-4422(09)70013-4},
  pmid    = {19161908},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1016/s1474-4422(09)70013-4}
}

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