HTRA1 and dementia: Background: Cerebral autosomal recessive arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CARASIL) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by baldness, recurrent ischemic stroke, lumbago, headache, and dementia which is closely related to homozygous mutations of the high-temperature requirement serine peptidase A1 (HTRA1) gene.