title: Cerebral emboli and depressive symptoms in dementia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The vascular depression hypothesis and our recent findings of increased frequency of spontaneous cerebral emboli in dementia suggest that such emboli may be involved in the causation of depressive symptoms in dementia.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the association between spontaneous cerebral emboli and depressive symptoms in Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a cohort of 142 patients with dementia (72 with Alzheimer's disease and 70 with vascular dementia), the association between spontaneous cerebral emboli and clinically relevant depressive symptoms was examined using multiple logistic regression analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Spontaneous cerebral emboli were significantly more frequent in the patients with clinically relevant depressive symptoms (66 v. 37%, P=0.03). After adjustment for age, gender, Mini-Mental State Examination score, type of dementia and significant cardiovascular risk factors, the relationship remained significant (OR=3.47, 95% CI 1.10-10.97).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Spontaneous cerebral emboli are associated with clinically relevant depressive symptoms in dementia, and further research is needed to explore the nature of this relationship.
authors.affiliation: University of Manchester, Division of Psychiatry, Education and Research Centre, South Manchester University Hospital, Manchester M23 9LT, UK. nitin.purandare@manchester.ac.uk
authors.forename: Nitin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Purandare
authors.forename: Richard C Oude
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Voshaar
authors.forename: Jayne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hardicre
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Byrne
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McCollum
authors.forename: Alistair
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Burns
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000523:psychology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020766:Intracranial Embolism / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors