The prevalence of neuropathologycally confirmed vascular dementia: findings from the Nun Study

Citation
Da. Snowdon et Wr. Markesbery, The prevalence of neuropathologycally confirmed vascular dementia: findings from the Nun Study, 1ST INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON VASCULAR DEMENTIA, 1999, pp. 19-24
Citations number
10
Categorie Soggetti
Current Book Contents
Year of publication
1999
Pages
19 - 24
Database
ISI
SICI code
Abstract
The Nun Study is a longitudinal study of aging and Alzheimer's disease in 6 78 Catholic sisters who agreed to annual examinations and brain donation at death. By the end of 1997, 262 participants had died and brains were colle cted and neuropathologic examinations completed on 241 (92 %). These 241 wo men were 76 to 103 years of age at death (mean=89). Prior to death, 118 (49 %) of the 241 women fulfilled our clinical criteria for dementia and only 3 of them had neuropathologic confirmation of vascular dementia. That is, t he 3 cases had vascular pathology that was judged by a neuropathologist to be sufficient to produce dementia and they had no other significant patholo gy that could have produced the dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease. Over all, vascular dementia appears to be an uncommon cause of dementia in this population.