Brain Infarction and the Clinical Expression of Alzheimer Disease
- 9 July 1997
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Medical Association (AMA)
- Vol. 278 (2) , 113-114
- https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1997.03550020045023
Abstract
To the Editor. —Dr Snowdon and colleagues1emphasized the important contribution of lacunar infarcts to cognitive decline in patients with AD. However, with few exceptions, no clear correlation exists between location or number of lacunar infarcts and development of vascular dementia.2,3More than a direct cause of dementia, lacunar infarcts per se probably represent a surrogate or a marker for small-vessel disease(arteriolosclerosis) leading also to periventricular ischemic white matter disease in the elderly.4These lesions, rediscovered by brain imaging techniques under the name leukoaraiosis, constitute the pathological substratum of Binswanger disease,5a vascular form of senile dementia. Moreover, Brun and Englund6demonstrated these lesions in about 60% of patients with AD. However, periventricular ischemic white matter lesions in the elderly may be undetectable to the naked eye examination of the brainKeywords
This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- A white matter disorder in dementia of the Alzheimer type: A pathoanatomical studyAnnals of Neurology, 1986