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Vascular Dementia

Background

Vascular dementia is the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer Disease (AD). The condition is not a single disease; it is a group of syndromes relating to different vascular mechanisms. As early as 1899, arteriosclerosis and senile dementia were described as different syndromes. In 1969, Mayer-Gross et al described this syndrome and reported that hypertension is the cause in approximately 50% of patients. Patients who have had a stroke are at increased risk for vascular dementia. In 1974, Hachinski et al coined the term multi-infarct dementia. In 1985, Loeb used the broader term vascular dementia. Recently, Bowler and Hachinski introduced a new term, vascular cognitive impairment. Vascular dementia is preventable; therefore, early detection and an accurate diagnosis are important.

Case study

A 70-year-old woman came to the clinic with her son for assessment of her cognitive decline. The son is concerned about her short-term memory problems for the past 10 months. She had a fall 10 months ago; after that fall, she started to ask the same questions over and over. There was another fall 4 months ago and also an episode of dizziness 2 months ago. With these incidents, her son noticed further decline in cognition. Recently, her son noticed that she has become a bit more suspicious of her daughter-in-law and has been hoarding things. She has lost interest in her day-to-day activities and forgets to include the right ingredients when cooking. Family has to remind her to take her medications, and her son is helping with the management of her finances.

The patient has hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease, osteoarthritis, and osteoporosis. On the Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE), the patient scored 21/30 with abnormal clock drawing. On the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), the patient scored 2/15. CT scan of the head showed multiple lacunar infarcts in the right basal ganglia and left cerebellar region.

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