engleski

Non-invasive assessment of vascular physiology in patients with dementia

background: Vascular risk factors (VRFs) are recognized as important contributors in the pathogenesis of both vascular and Alzheimer’s dementia. The same VRFs influence arterial mechanics and consequently cerebrovascular perfusion, thus predisposing to evolution of cerebral vascular incidents. Our aim was to further investigate vascular function in patients with cognitive decline, using non-invasive neurosonology techniques. methods: In all, 15 patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), 15 patients with vascular dementia (VAD) and 20 patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) were recruited. E-tracking was performed using Aloka ProSound Alpha 10 with 13 MHz linear probe. Parameters of arterial stiffness (beta stiffnes index, augmentation index [AI] and pulse wave velocity [PWV]) were analysed, and IMT was measured. Inter-group comparison was performed. results: When compared to patients with VAD, patients with AD showed statistically significant difference (p<0, 05) in the mean beta stiffness (9, 14±4, 3) and AI (6, 4±8, 3), but not in the mean PWV and IMT. Patients with MCI also differ significantly in the AI (5, 6±6, 5) and IMT (0, 9±0, 25) when compared to patients with VAD, but not with AD patients. No significant differences were found among groups regarding age and VRFs profile, except for diabetes which was present more often in patients with VAD. Conclusions: Our results pointed towards some differences in vascular function among patients diagnosed with AD, VAD and with subtle cognitive decline. We propose the neurosonological non-invasive assessment of vascular function parametes to be performed as a part of clinical evaluation and monitoring in patients with cognitive decline.

dementia; vascular risk factors

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