The neuropsychological profile of vascular cognitive impairment--no dementia: comparisons to patients at risk for cerebrovascular disease and vascular dementia.
Hachinski and co-workers have used the term vascular cognitive impairment-no dementia (VaCIND) to represent the earliest stages of cognitive decline associated with vascular changes [Neurology 57 (4) (2001) 714]. However, the neuropsychological profile of vascular CIND remains unclear. Twenty-five healthy elders, 29 individuals at risk for cerebrovascular disease (R-CVD), 18 individuals with VaCIND, and 26 individuals with vascular dementia (VaD) were examined to determine whether patterns of neuropsychological assessment performance can assist in the differentiation of patients at varying levels of risk and severity for cerebrovascular disease and VaD. The R-CVD group performed within normal expectations on most cognitive measures as compared to the elderly control sample and published clinical norms. Relative to elderly controls, the VaCIND group demonstrated significant difficulties on measures of cognitive flexibility, verbal retrieval, and verbal recognition memory, but not on measures of confrontational naming or verbal fluency. The VaD group was impaired on all cognitive measures assessed. The current findings suggest that poor cognitive flexibility and verbal retrieval in the context of preserved function in other domains may characterize the prodromal stage of VaD.
Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown Medical School, USA. kelly@drexel.edu
Kelly Davis
KD
Garrett
Jeffrey N
JN
Browndyke
William
W
Whelihan
Robert H
RH
Paul
Margaret
M
DiCarlo
David J
DJ
Moser
Ronald A
RA
Cohen
Brian R
BR
Ott
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002545:Brain Ischemia / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D015897:Comorbidity; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results