Baseline differences between vascular cognitive impairment no dementia reverters and non-reverters
- J B Williamson1,
- D L Nyenhuis1,
- L Pedelty1,
- S Byrd2,
- M Jhaveri2,
- C Wang3,
- L deToledo-Morrell3,
- K Sripathirathan3,
- P Gorelick1
- 1Center for Stroke Research, Department of Neurology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Illinois, USA
- 2Department of Radiology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- 3Department of Neurological Sciences, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA
- John B Williamson, Center for Stroke Research, 1645 West Jackson Blvd, Suite 400, Chicago, IL 60612, USA; Jwillia2{at}uic.edu
- Received 19 October 2007
- Revised 29 February 2008
- Accepted 10 April 2008
- Published Online First 13 May 2008
Abstract
Background: The underlying factors of reversion from cognitive impairment to normal cognitive functioning in stroke are not well understood. We compare demographic, cognitive and imaging factors in Vascular Cognitive Impairment, No Dementia (Vascular CIND) patients who revert to normal cognitive functioning to Vascular CIND patients who do not revert.
Methods: Thirty-one ischaemic stroke patients, who met classification criteria for Vascular CIND, were >49.5 years old, met NINDS stroke criteria, and were free from additional neurological illness, completed baseline and 1-year examinations. Forty-five per cent of the Vascular CIND participants reverted to no cognitive impairment at 1-year follow-up examination.
Results: There was greater cognitive impairment in non-reverters on a summary score spanning several neuropsychological domains and on psychomotor and working memory summary scores. There were no differences on demographic factors or in stroke severity between reverters and non-reverters. Structural MRI analyses revealed no baseline differences in number of strokes, stroke volume or stroke location. However, there was greater frontal white matter hyperintensity load in the non-reverter group.
Conclusions: These results suggest that Vascular CIND reversion may be a function of a combination of baseline neuropsychological function and location of cerebrovascular disease.
Footnotes
-
Competing interests: None.
-
Funding: The principal author takes full responsibility for the data, the analyses and interpretation, and the conduct of the research. He had full access to all of the data, and the right to publish any and all data, separate and apart from the attitudes of the sponsor. This work is supported by NIA (R01 AG17934), PI: PBG (2000–2003) & DLN (2003–2006).
