[Vascular factors and the psychopathological picture in Alzheimer's disease]

The aim of the study was to assess the impact of the vascular component on the psychopathological picture in Alzheimer's disease.

The study included 50 patients with dementia of Alzheimer's type diagnosed according to the DSM-IV criteria. The following criteria were fulfilled: the patient's consent to examination, the possibility of obtaining an objective interview from a caregiver who knew the patient's history well. The patients were assessed with the following scales: the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale--cognitive subscale (ADAS-cog) and non-cognitive subscale (ADAS-non-cog), the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Scale (MADRS), the Instrumental Activity of Daily Living (IADL); moreover, there were examinations carried out with the AMDP Scale and the Hachinsky Scale, whose results constituted the basis for dividing the patients into two groups: those with a slight vascular component (the score of 0-1 on the Hachinsky Scale) and a prominent vascular component (the score of 2-4).

Significant statistical differences between patients with slight and prominent vascular components were noticed; the differences referred to: somatic symptoms and orientation, thinking disorders, emotional disorders and "other" symptoms.

Summing up, it must be said that the presence of vascular factors affects the clinical picture of Alzheimer's disease. The study shows that vascular factors do not intensify the severity of the very dementia itself but contribute to the presence of non-cognitive symptoms.