Abstract】Objective: To analyze the CT features of subcortical atherosclerotic encephalopathy (SAE) and its relationship with clinical manifestations. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of 82 patients diagnosed with subcortical atherosclerotic encephalopathy by clinical and head CT. RESULTS: All patients showed a slightly hypointense shadow in the white matter around the ventricles bilaterally on CT scan of the head, with blurred lesions and poorly defined borders, and bilateral symmetry or basic symmetry; there were 76 cases of combined lacunar infarction and 43 cases of combined brain atrophy of different degrees. The more severe the manifestation of progressive dementia, the more obvious the abnormal CT manifestation. CONCLUSION: Cranial CT plain scan for those with a history of hypertension or cerebral arteriosclerosis can diagnose SAE at an earlier stage.