"This classification was proposed by Fazekas et al. in 1987 1 and remains a very widely used system for describing white matter disease severity in publications. It is also not infrequently used in clinical practice, although terms such as 'mild', 'moderate' and 'severe' are generally favoured."
"The scale is named after Franz Fazekas (b. 1956), an Austrian neurologist and the author of the original article co-published in 1987 in the American Journal of Roentgenology and American Journal of Neuroradiology 1. At the time, he was training in research in radiology at the University of Pennsylvania 3."
"Additionally, it is important to note that it is the deep white matter component score which is useful in the assessment of patients with possible dementia (see neurodegenerative MRI brain (an approach)) and it is this component that is usually reported (e.g. "Fazekas grade 2")."