COMPARATIVE EVOLUTION OF ALZHEIMER-DISEASE, VASCULAR DEMENTIA, AND MIXED DEMENTIA

Objective: To compare the evolution of Alzheimer disease (AD), vascula r dementia (VaD), and mixed dementia by cognitive domain. Setting: The University of Western Ontario Dementia Study, which is a registry of cases of dementia seen for secondary and tertiary assessment in a univ ersity memory disorders clinic with extensive follow-up data and histo pathological confirmation of clinical diagnoses. Patients: One hundred twenty-nine patients with definite or probable AD, 12 patients with d efinite or probable VaD, and 36 patients with definite or probable mix ed dementia. Methods: Patients were grouped as having an early, modera te, or advanced stage of disease according to the extended scale for d ementia (ESD). The ESD was subdivided into cognitive domains, and the domain scores were compared for each stage of disease by diagnostic ca tegory with the use of a 2-way analysis of variance with repeated meas ures. Results: As expected, the scores in all domains decreased signif icantly with increasing severity. There was a significant difference i n the decline in memory among the diagnostic groups (P=.02) that was m ostly attributable to the difference between AD and mixed dementia (P= .03), with the difference between AD and VaD only approaching signific ance (P=.06). There was a similar finding for praxis. The interaction between diagnosis (AD and VaD) and severity was significant only for m emory (P=.02), showing a less severe memory deficit at onset but a pro portionately more rapid progression in VaD and arithmetic ability (AD and mixed dementia [P=.03]). Conclusions: Alzheimer disease, VaD, and mixed dementia evolve similarly as assessed using cognitive domains ob tained by subdivision of the ESD in a patient population derived from a memory clinic and by analyzing VaD as a single entity. Only memory i mpairment evolves differently between AD and VaD, with this depending on the severity. Memory is more severely impaired in the early stage o f AD; however, with increasing severity of dementia, memory impairment in VaD accelerates and catches up with AD at the level of moderate im pairment. The differences between AD and mixed dementia are greater th an those between mixed dementia and VaD, suggesting an important role for the ischemic component of mixed dementia. Simple neuropsychologica l tools (e.g. the ESD) may be incapable of distinguishing between AD a nd VaD, and more focused instruments may be required, Inherent bias in case selection may prevent extrapolation of these results to VaD in g eneral, but the neuropsychological criteria for VaD may need to vary, depending on the severity.