title: Study of the positivity of spontaneous and directed diagnosis of leukoaraiosis in the elderly by cranial computerized tomography, and its correlation with cognitive deficit and cardiovascular risk factors.
abstract: To evaluate the prevalence of leukoaraiosis (LA) and its correlation with vascular risk factors and the cognitive performance of elderly patients.
  
  
  
  78 patients were randomly selected and submitted to clinic-laboratorial evaluation for vascular risk factors. Two cognitive tests were performed. All patients were submitted to cranial computerized tomography (CT), which was analyzed in two situations: the spontaneous and the directed way.
  
  
  
  There was no statistically significant difference between the prevalence of spontaneous and the directed diagnoses of LA (20.5 and 18%, respectively). The presence of LA was not significantly correlated with cognitive impairment. Only age was positively associated with LA.
  
  
  
  Cranial CT is a trustworthy method for the diagnosis of LA. Only age showed a positive association. No clinical implications were found, concerning the cognitive performance of the patients.
authors.affiliation: Médico do Serviço de Geriatria, Hospital do Servidor Público Estadual Francisco Morato de Oliveira, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: Mauricio de Miranda
authors.initials: Mde M
authors.lastname: Ventura
authors.forename: Antonio Carlos de Paiva
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Melo
authors.forename: Henrique
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Carrete
authors.forename: Ricardo Vieira
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Botelho
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D049292:Leukoaraiosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed