Vascular risk factors and leuko-araiosis.
Leuko-araiosis was found in 49 of 140 demented patients compared with 12 out of 110 control subjects. Thirty-one of 95 patients with dementia of the Alzheimer's type had leuko-araiosis. A history of stroke was four times more frequent in patients with leuko-araiosis than in those without leuko-araiosis (17.4% and 4.4%, respectively). It occurred in 25% of controls with leuko-araiosis compared with only 2% of those without leuko-araiosis. Mean systolic blood pressure was associated with leuko-araiosis. No association was found for diastolic blood pressure, myocardial infarction, angina, diabetes, or carotid bruits. On logistic regression analysis, the strong association between dementia and leuko-araiosis was mainly explained by a history of stroke. There are common factors in leuko-araiosis and stroke, but stroke alone does not account for leuko-araiosis.
D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D003704:Dementia / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009186:Myelin Sheath / Q000473:pathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed