title: Diagnostic tools for the study of vascular cognitive dysfunction in hypertension and antihypertensive drug research.
abstract: Arterial hypertension is one of the main risk factors for cerebrovascular diseases, and antihypertensive treatment has significantly reduced their associated mortality. However, morbidity has not been reduced to a similar extent and a still increasing number of patients suffers from recurring strokes and from the disabling consequences of cerebrovascular diseases and develops progressive cognitive impairment. It is still debated to what extent antihypertensive treatment may prevent the development of cognitive dysfunction, due to the lack of a focused approach to vascular cognitive impairment, to the lack of a systematic study of the early phases of dementia, and to the use of diagnostic tests that are not sensitive and specific for a slow onset clinical condition, such as dementia. The aim of the present expert consensus report is to enlist the diagnostic tools that are currently available to assess mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and early dementia and that are sensitive and specific enough to be used in observational, longitudinal, and interventional clinical research studies, aiming to investigate the impact of antihypertensive drugs on vascular dementia (VD).
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy. andrea.semplicini@unipd.it
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Semplicini
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Amodio
authors.forename: Gastone
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leonetti
authors.forename: Cesare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cuspidi
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Umiltà
authors.forename: Sami
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schiff
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Scheltens
authors.forename: Frederik
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Barkhof
authors.forename: Costanza
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Emanueli
authors.forename: Annachiara
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cagnin
authors.forename: Gilberto
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pizzolato
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Macchini
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Realdi
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Royter
authors.forename: Natan M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Bornstein
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Madeddu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015415:Biomarkers; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D014463:Ultrasonography
chemical_list: D000959:Antihypertensive Agents; D015415:Biomarkers