You are seeing this message because your Web browser does not support basic Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing and what you can do to make your experience on this site better.


ABOUT ARCHIVES
Advanced Search

Welcome   | My Account | E-mail Alerts | Access Rights | Sign In


  Vol. 53 No. 4, April 1996 TABLE OF CONTENTS
  Archives
  •  Online Features
  ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS
 This Article
 •References
 •Full text PDF
 • Reply to article
 •Send to a friend
 • Save in My Folder
 •Save to citation manager
 •Permissions
 Citing Articles
 •Citation map
 •Citing articles on HighWire
 •Contact me when this article is cited
 Related Content
 •Similar articles in this journal
 Social Bookmarking
  Add to CiteULike Add to Connotea Add to Del.icio.us Add to Digg Add to Reddit Add to Technorati Add to Twitter What's this?

Diffuse Vacuolization (Spongiosis) and Arteriolosclerosis in the Frontal White Matter Occurs in Vascular Dementia

Timo Erkinjuntti, MD, PhD; Oscar Benavente, MD; Michael Eliasziw, PhD; David G. Munoz, MD; Raimo Sulkava, MD, PhD; Matti Haltia, MD, PhD; Vladimir Hachinski, MD, DSc(Med)

Arch Neurol. 1996;53(4):325-332.


Abstract

Objective
To examine quantitatively white-matter changes at different sites in patients with definite vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

Design
Prospective clinical and neuropathological series.

Setting
University hospital clinics (Helsinki, Finland, and London, Ontario).

Subjects
Twenty-two patients with a clinical and neuropathological diagnosis of vascular dementia and 20 patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Measures
The frequencies of focal white-matter lesions, arteriolosclerosis, and cerebral amyloid angiopathy were assessed. Validated ratings and cell counts were done in the subcortical U-fiber, centrum semiovale, and periventricular areas of the frontal white matter. Degrees of abnormality (none, mild, moderate, severe) were rated for spongiosis (vacuolization of white matter), état criblé (wideningof perivascular spaces), myelin loss, oligodendrocyte density, axonal loss, and overall. Densities of oligodendrocytes and astrocytes (cells per square millimeter) were determined.

Results
Patients with vascular dementia showed focal white-matter lesions and arteriolosclerosis more often than patients with Alzheimer's disease. The patients with vascular dementia also had significantly greater spongiosis (P<.001), état criblé (P=.004), myelin loss (P=.005) and overall white-matter abnormality (P<.001). Arteriolosclerosis was found in association with spongiosis but not with état criblé. Cerebral amyloid angiopathy did not appear to be related to any of the white-matter changes in patients with either vascular dementia or Alzheimer's disease. The U-fiber area showed fewer changes, and the periventricular area tended to be most affected.

Conclusion
In addition to focal infarcts, patients with vascular dementia showed widespread diffuse changes, including spongiosis and arteriolosclerosis, along with état criblé and myelin loss. White-matter changes in patients with Alzheimer's disease could not be related to infarction. Pathologic changes in small blood vessels are associated with diffuse white-matter changes and may have a distinct role in the genesis of vascular dementia.



Author Affiliations

From the Departments of Clinical Neurological Sciences (Drs Erkinjuntti, Benavente, Eliasziw, and Hachinski), Pathology (Dr Munoz), and Epidemiology and Biostatistics (Dr Eliasziw), University of Western Ontario, London; John P. Robarts Research Institute, London, Ontario (Drs Erkinjuntti, Eliasziw, Munoz, and Hachinski); Department of Community Health and General Practice, University of Kuopio (Finland) (Dr Sulkava); and Memory Research Unit, Department of Neurology (Dr Erkinjuntti), and Department of Pathology (Dr Haltia), University of Helsinki (Finland).



Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter     What's this?

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Relationship Between White-Matter Hyperintensities and Hematoma Volume and Growth in Patients With Intracerebral Hemorrhage
Lou et al.
Stroke 2010;41:34-40.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

White Matter Lesions Are Prevalent but Differentially Related With Cognition in Aging and Early Alzheimer Disease
Burns et al.
Arch Neurol 2005;62:1870-1876.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Dilatation of the Virchow-Robin Space Is a Sensitive Indicator of Cerebral Microvascular Disease: Study in Elderly Patients with Dementia
Patankar et al.
Am. J. Neuroradiol. 2005;26:1512-1520.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Neuroanatomical localisation and clinical correlates of white matter lesions in the elderly
Artero et al.
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 2004;75:1304-1308.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

White matter lesion progression: A surrogate endpoint for trials in cerebral small-vessel disease
Schmidt et al.
Neurology 2004;63:139-144.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

White Matter Structural Integrity in Healthy Aging Adults and Patients With Alzheimer Disease: A Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study
Bartzokis et al.
Arch Neurol 2003;60:393-398.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Intracerebral microdialysis and CSF hydrodynamics in idiopathic adult hydrocephalus syndrome
Agren-Wilsson et al.
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 2003;74:217-221.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Patients with vascular dementia due to microvascular pathology have significant hippocampal neuronal loss
Kril et al.
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 2002;72:747-751.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Dementias
Hsu et al.
J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 2001;14:145-166.
ABSTRACT  

A New Rating Scale for Age-Related White Matter Changes Applicable to MRI and CT
Wahlund et al.
Stroke 2001;32:1318-1322.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Vascular Cell Components of the Medullary Arteries in Binswanger's Disease Brains : A Morphometric and Immunoelectron Microscopic Study
Lin et al.
Stroke 2000;31:1838-1842.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Corpus Callosum Atrophy in Patients With Leukoaraiosis May Indicate Global Cognitive Impairment
Yamauchi et al.
Stroke 2000;31:1515-1520.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Affective behavioural disturbances in Alzheimer's disease and ischaemic vascular disease
Hargrave et al.
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 2000;68:41-46.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Magnetization Transfer Ratio of White Matter Hyperintensities in Subcortical Ischemic Vascular
Tanabe et al.
Am. J. Neuroradiol. 1999;20:839-844.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Cardiovascular factors in Alzheimer's disease
STEWART
J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 1998;65:143-147.
FULL TEXT  

Status of Risk Factors for Dementia Associated With Stroke
Gorelick
Stroke 1997;28:459-463.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  





HOME | CURRENT ISSUE | PAST ISSUES | TOPIC COLLECTIONS | CME | SUBMIT | SUBSCRIBE | HELP
CONDITIONS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US | SITE MAP
 
© 1996 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.