shu-508 and Lewy-Body-Disease

The diagnosis and quantification of microangiopathy in dementia is difficult. The assessment of small-vessel disease requires expensive and sophisticated nuclear medicine techniques. This study was performed to identify microangiopathy related to the integrity of cerebral microcirculation by sonographic measurements (arteriovenous cerebral transit time [cTT]).. We performed transcranial color-coded duplex sonography in 40 patients with vascular dementia, 20 patients with Alzheimer's disease or Lewy body disease, and 25 age-matched controls. The clinical diagnosis was established by history of dementia and neuroimaging findings. Cognitive impairment was assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination and Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale. cTT is defined as the time required by an ultrasound contrast agent to pass from a cerebral artery to a vein. This was measured by recording the power-Doppler intensity curves in the P2 segment of the posterior cerebral artery and the vein of Galen. Previous studies have shown a prolongation of cTT in patients with cerebral microangiopathy.. cTT was substantially prolonged in patients with vascular dementia (5.8 seconds; 25th percentile 4.5; 75th percentile 7.5; U test, P<0.001) compared with controls (3.1 seconds; 2.3; 3.4) but not in patients with degenerative dementia (3.7 seconds; 3.7; 4.2). In patients with vascular dementia, cTT was significantly correlated with cognitive impairment.. cTT may be useful tool to disclose small-vessel disease in demented patients. Examination is noninvasive and quickly performed. It may be also useful in follow-up examinations in patients undergoing therapy.

Topics: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Alzheimer Disease; Case-Control Studies; Cerebral Veins; Cerebrovascular Circulation; Cognition Disorders; Contrast Media; Dementia, Vascular; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Lewy Body Disease; Male; Mental Status Schedule; Microcirculation; Middle Aged; Polysaccharides; Posterior Cerebral Artery; Time Factors; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Color; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Duplex; Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial