The brain and kidney both uniquely are highly susceptible to vascular injury from shared vascular risk factors. However these are not sufficient to explain the complete extent of cerebrovascular disease especially small vessel disease in its myriad presentations that patients with chronic kidney disease manifest. They both require a large amount of blood supply to function optimally. Shared anatomical and physiological factors such as the presence of strain vessels, the local vascular autoregulation that control blood supply possible, results in the vulnerability of these organs to the vascular risk factors. Because it is a bidirectional system where each affects the other, it is best considered as a cerebro-renal unit.

大脑和肾脏都非常容易因共同的血管危险因素而受到血管损伤。然而，这些不足以解释脑血管疾病的完整程度，尤其是慢性肾病患者所表现出的无数表现形式的小血管疾病。它们都需要大量的血液供应才能发挥最佳功能。共享的解剖学和生理学因素，如应变血管的存在，可能控制血液供应的局部血管自动调节，导致这些器官对血管危险因素的脆弱性。因为它是一个相互影响的双向系统，所以最好将其视为脑-肾单位。