Mr. Bonanno et al., Leukoaraiosis, cognitivity and affectivity in elderly patients: on the lack of correlations between neurodiagnostic and psychometric findings, ARCH GER G, 30(2), 2000, pp. 101-108
Among the age-related pathophysiological alterations of the brain, the anom
alies of the white matter are becoming of increasing interest at both patho
logical and clinical levels. Wherever specific pathologies of the white mat
ter can be excluded, the still encountered anomalies are generally defined
as leukoaraiosis (from the Greek words white and rarefaction), in order to
indicate certain ill-defined, slurred subcortical areas which may be single
, multiple, or confluent, representing transparent white matter regions, mo
st probably of ischemic origin. The causes, risk factors and clinical signi
ficance of leukoaraiosis have remained so far unknown. At clinical level, i
t is believed to be connected with cognitive and affective disorders. This
study intended to collect evidence of the presence and to estimate the exte
nt of eventual cognitive and affective disorders in a sample of elderly pat
ients displaying cerebral lesions like simple or associated leukoaraiosis,
as well as other stabilized focal, single or multiple ischemic lesions, cer
ebral atrophy, lacunar state and vascular cerebropathies without leukoaraio
sis. So far no significant correlations have been encountered between the n
eurodiagnostic and psychometric findings. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ireland
Ltd. All rights reserved.