title: Cerebrovascular reactivity to acetazolamide in (senile) dementia of Alzheimer's type: relationship to disease severity.
abstract: Neuropathological reports about denervation and amyloid angiopathy in dementia of Alzheimer's type (DAT) as well as signs of selective incomplete white matter infarctions point to a vascular involvement within the degenerative process. In order to investigate potential alterations of cerebrovascular function we performed cerebral blood flow measurements before and after intravenous injection of 1 g acetazolamide using technetium-99m hexamethylpropyleneamine oxime and single photon emission tomography in 12 patients (6 female, 6 male; mean age 70.8 +/- 9.6 years) with probable (senile) dementia of Alzheimer's type (SDAT) and 9 controls (7 female, 2 male; mean age 71.2 +/- 8.6 years). SDAT patients revealed significantly reduced cerebrovascular reactivity with lower values with increasing cognitive impairment. We discuss possible underlying mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stoppe
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schütze
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kögler
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Staedt
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Munz
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Emrich
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rüther
mesh_terms: D000086:Acetazolamide / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D001007:Anxiety; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000187:drug effects*; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D000086:Acetazolamide