title: Asymptomatic spontaneous cerebral emboli and cognitive decline in a cohort of older people: a prospective study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Asymptomatic spontaneous cerebral emboli (SCE) are common in dementia and are associated with cognitive decline in dementia. The significance of their presence in older people is unknown.
  
  
  METHODS
  We included 96 participants (mean (SD) age 76.8 (6.7) years, 46% female) who were the control group in a case-control study to evaluate SCE in dementia. Cognitive functioning was assessed prospectively over 2.5 years, using the MMSE and CAMCOG.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean (SD) MMSE score was 28.7 (1.4) at baseline with an average (SD) drop of 0.79 (0.91) per year. The presence of SCE was not related to the annual drop in MMSE score, nor to the CAMCOG score at follow-up (p = 0.88 and p = 0.41, respectively). Linear regression analyses identified higher age in years (beta = 0.29, p = 0.003), history of stroke (beta = 0.31, p = 0.001) and carotid stenosis (beta = 0.28, p = 0.003) as independent predictors of cognitive decline.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found no association between the presence of SCE and subsequent cognitive decline in older people without dementia.
authors.affiliation: University of Manchester, Division of Psychiatry, Education and Research Centre, South Manchester University Hospital, Wythenshawe, Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Richard C Oude
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Voshaar
authors.forename: Nitin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Purandare
authors.forename: Jayne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hardicre
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McCollum
authors.forename: Alistair
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Burns
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006801:Humans; D020766:Intracranial Embolism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008609:Mental Status Schedule; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D017585:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial