Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) has turned out to be not only a simple risk factor for hemorrhagic stroke but also directly influencing brain function and the development of dementia, including Alzheimer disease, ischemic vascular and mixed dementias. To cover this new wealth of information a virtual mini-symposium was recently published (see Brain Pathology, 2006, volume 16) and will now be followed up by a symposium on CAA in Iceland, where the first familial form of CAA was described in 1935.