Thirty Chinese patients with clinical and computed tomographic (CT) features of subcortical arteriosclerotic encephalopathy (SAE) were reviewed. It is concluded that the features were sufficiently characteristic for SAE to be considered as a sub-category of cerebrovascular disease and an identifiable cause of dementia in the elderly. Sixteen patients in this series underwent radioisotope brain scintiscan, in which the dynamic radionuclide scintiangiography (RSA) correlated with the clinical course. An increased mean plateau/peak value in the hemispheric curves is seen in the deteriorating patients in contrast to the stable patients.