Incidence of pre- and poststroke dementia: cracow stroke registry.
OBJECTIVE
Dementia after stroke may be caused by vascular lesion, but preexisting degenerative changes can also influence its development. After stroke, the patients with coexisting Alzheimer-type pathology need appropriate treatment. The aim of the study was to evaluate the frequency of prestroke and new- onset dementia in stroke patients.


METHODS
We evaluated prestroke dementia in 250 patients with ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke using the Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly (IQCODE). Poststroke dementia was assessed in 220 patients 3 months after stroke by means of the neuropsychological tests and/or IQCODE. The DSM-IV definition of dementia was used.


RESULTS
Dementia after stroke was found in 31.4% of stroke patients. Twelve percent of stroke patients had a significant impairment of cognitive functions detected by the IQCODE on admission suggesting prestroke dementia. When we excluded the patients with recurrent stroke, the incidence of pre- and poststroke dementia was 9.3 and 21.2%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
About one tenth of stroke patients have preexisting dementia.
Klimkowicz
Aleksandra
A
Stroke Unit, Department of Neurology, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland. Aleksandra.Klimkowicz@mp.pl
Dziedzic
Tomasz
T
Slowik
Agnieszka
A
Szczudlik
Andrzej
A
D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D003704:Dementia / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D012042:Registries; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires